11-year-old survives deadly Bodega Bay boat capsizing, search suspended for 4 still missing

BODEGA BAY, Calif. (KGO) -- The Coast Guard has suspended its search for four boaters still missing who were out crabbing on the ocean Saturday near Bodega Bay. They were in a boat carrying six people.

Rescue crews searched approximately 57 combined hours and covered more than 2,100 square miles.

The Sheriff's Office first received a call around 10:18 p.m. Saturday about an overdue recreational boat that went crabbing off the coast of Bodega.

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Six people-- three adults and three youths-- were on board a 21-foot white Bayliner boat, according to the sheriff's office. The boaters were last heard from at about 3 p.m. and a cell phone ping suggested the boat was last in the area of Carmet Beach.

One of the boaters was found dead but an 11-year-old boy survived.

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"The survivability at this point is unlikely," said Chief Petty Officer Levi Read.

Read said late Sunday that the search for those four of six people who were on a boat Saturday near Bodega Bay, was suspended by the U.S. Coast Guard due to high winds and rough seas.

It comes after the body of an additional person on that boat was found floating Sunday, but also comes after the 11-year-old boy on that boat survived.

He floated to shore sometime Saturday night into Sunday morning with the help of a cooler.

"So, he had a life jacket on but was also using the cooler to float in?" said ABC7 News Reporter J.R. Stone.

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"That's correct," Read said.

"Was able to stay on shore, because he wasn't sure exactly where he was, stayed put until sunlight and then was able to come out," said Deputy Rob Dillion of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.

"To think that there was a young boy who had a life jacket on, who used this cooler. That's got to be a miracle in itself," Stone said.

"Absolutely, the kid has been through it, and he I haven't talked to him personally, obviously. I feel bad for him but happy that, so happy that he survived," Read said.

Read said that the boy is now in stable condition and has been reunited with family members.

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Now, a hope that the other four, which include kids and adults, might somehow be alive.

"Is there any belief that any of those four could still be alive?" Stone said.

"That's always our hope in a situation like this. As remote as the chance may be, that's why we search as much as we do and hard as we do, in the hope that someone made it ashore, and they are stuck somewhere, and we are trying to find them," Dillion said.

Not only did the search Sunday involve the Coast Guard and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, but also fire departments, park officials, and the U.S. Air Force. The sheriff's office says it will reevaluate things Monday with other agencies to determine what comes next here.

Those with the Coast Guard say some of those on board are from Corning, which is just north of Chico.

Anyone with information about the missing boaters is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (707) 565-2121.

Bay City News contributed to this report.