Search suspended for 3 missing after San Francisco Bay boat sinking

2 min readUpdated July 18, 2026

A search effort by the U.S. Coast Guard has been called off for three individuals unaccounted for after a cabin cruiser went down in San Francisco Bay during a memorial outing; one survivor pulled from the water did not recover and later died.

"Suspending a search is one of the hardest parts of our job and our condolences are with the families of all involved," U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jared S. Toczko said, according to The Associated Press. Before standing down, search teams had combed an area exceeding 814 square miles, the Coast Guard said, pausing operations "pending further developments."

Epstein victims called acting attorney general "abrasive" after DOJ meeting

According to Ralph Boisa, the outing brought together his extended family and close friends aboard a boat owned by his younger brother, in memory of his daughter, who passed away more than ten years ago. Among those unaccounted for are Ralph Boisa's sister Carol, the wife of his brother Clifford — Jackie — and a friend who had been close to his daughter. It was Clifford Boisa — a Sutter County resident who tended a small prune orchard and had volunteered as a sheriff's deputy for over a decade — who died after rescuers brought him out of the water.

According to the AP, onlookers reported watching passengers bang on glass windows as they became trapped inside the vessel as it went under. Before emergency responders reached the scene, two nearby halibut fishermen estimated they had hauled as many as eight or nine survivors, including the captain, onto their boat.

Coast Guard Captain Toczko noted that individuals had been present on the main deck and potentially in lower sections of the vessel, the AP reported, leaving open the possibility that some may have been trapped when the boat sank. The wreck site has been pinpointed, though its depth remains unknown, according to Toczko. San Francisco Police Commander Brien Hoo said the next step would involve deploying divers or a remotely operated underwater drone to evaluate recovery options, adding that depths beyond 120 feet would pose serious challenges to any salvage effort.

The boat's owners, John Boisa and Miriam Boisa of Stockton, California, are listed in Coast Guard records.

Update, July 18, 2026: The group was aboard the Volare to scatter the ashes of Maria Boisa, who died by suicide in 2015 at age 32. The new story also reports two people are now confirmed dead and two others are missing, up from the one confirmed death and three unaccounted for previously reported. (per The New York Times)

Coast Guard halts search for 3 unaccounted for after boat capsizes in San Francisco Bay

Related Content

Related Content