Sailboat sinks near Golden Gate Bridge, 1 missing

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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday was searching for a missing sailor whose boat sank near the Golden Gate Bridge.

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Sean Kelly said a distress signal came in at 4:15 a.m. from a 30-foot sailboat named the Alma. The boat's lone passenger hadn't been found by Monday afternoon.

Coast Guard personnel were sent to search by air and water, Kelly said, adding that the search crew learned that a boat matching the Alma's description was on the rocks at Yellow Bluff.

Searchers found the boat had come off the rocks and was partially submerged. It later sank, and Kelly said divers from the Southern Marin Fire Protection District went into the water, confirming the sunken boat was the Alma.

"We're using every asset available to locate any possible persons in distress," Cmdr. Donald Montoro, of the Coast Guard's San Francisco sector, said in a statement.

Officials are asking the public if they have any information on the Alma or its operator to contact the Sector San Francisco Command Center at 415-399-3520.