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Authorities search SOC for five Americans aboard missing boat
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20031027-1935-mexi...
October 28, 2003
MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexican authorities are searching for five Americans who reportedly failed to return to the resort town of Puerto Penasco ? also
know as Rocky Point ? after setting out Saturday in a small boat for a day of sport fishing.
A Mexican armed forces helicopter and a plane carried out aerial searches Monday over the waters of the upper Gulf of California, but did not find any
sign of the 25-foot craft "Manta", which bore the Arizona registry number AZ5091BF.
Jose German Islada, the port captain at Puerto Penasco, said the boat had not registered with his office, but acquaintances of the missing Americans
told authorities their aim was to cross over to the Baja peninsula, about 75 miles west, to fish for tuna.
"We are very worried, because there are about 300 shrimp boats in that area, and nobody saw the Americans' boat pass through," Islada said in a
telephone interview.
"We are on full alert, and we're combing the area by sea, air and land. We've sent out teams along the coast to look for them," Islada said. "What
we're most interested in is finding them, and hopefully, quickly."
With no sign of the boat found in searches of an area about 200 miles around Puerto Penasco, authorities called off Monday's search when darkness fell
but pledged to resume the effort Tuesday.
The five Americans ? whose names were not immediately available ? apparently brought their craft to Puerto Penasco, a coastal city about 60 miles
south of the Arizona border, aboard a trailer.
They put the boat in the water at a local dock, left their car and trailer at a local hotel known as Playa Bonita, and set sail. They have not been
seen since.
The boat was equipped with two outboard motors.
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Tucsonans missing from fishing trip
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=1...
October 28, 2003
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - A search of the upper Gulf of California for five people, reportedly from Tucson, was to resume today after relatives said they failed
to return from a fishing trip out of Puerto Pe?asco.
The group reportedly set out in a small fishing boat for a day of sports fishing Saturday. Relatives identified two of the missing as Carl Hopper and
Mark Brink, both of Tucson.
A Mexican armed forces helicopter and a plane yesterday did not find any sign of the 25-foot craft Manta, which bore the Arizona registry number
AZ5091BF.
Jose German Islada, the port captain at Puerto Pe?asco, also known as Rocky Point, said the boat had not registered with his office. But acquaintances
of the missing Americans told authorities their aim was to cross over to the Baja California peninsula, about 75 miles west, to fish for tuna.
"We are very worried, because there are about 300 shrimp boats in that area, and nobody saw the Americans' boat pass through," Islada said in a
telephone interview.
"We are on full alert, and we're combing the area by sea, air and land," he said. No sign of the boat was found in searches of an area about 200 miles
around Puerto Pe?asco.
The five apparently brought their craft to Puerto Pe?asco, about 60 miles south of the Arizona border, aboard a trailer. They put the boat in the
water at a local dock, left their car and trailer at a hotel known as Playa Bonita, and set sail. The boat was equipped with two outboard motors.
Officials at U.S. consulates in Mexico were unable to provide more details last night.
Citizen reporter Irene Hsiao contributed to this report.
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Anonymous
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I wish these people well but there was something else alarming in this account. There are 300 shrimp boats in the area?
Isn't that a bit excessive? Talk about over fishing!!!
Again, I hope these people are found to be safe...
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Stephanie Jackter
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They found the boat capsized near a lifeboat with no one in it today
It's looking pretty grim. The boat was upside down.
I agree about the 300 shrimp boats. The sea of Cortez is being unabashedly and systematically raped and we all turn a relatively blind eye. -
Stephanie
When the goin' gets tough, the wierd turn pro
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Boat, but not fishermen, found
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=1...
IRENE HSIAO
Tucson Citizen
The boat used by five Tucson men who are missing while on a fishing expedition off Puerto Pe?asco, Son., has reportedly been found, but the men were
not aboard, family members said.
The men left Saturday morning and planned to return that night at 9, said Samantha Brinke, 21, the daughter of one of the men, Mark Brinke, 47, a
general contractor.
By Sunday, mostly through word of mouth, their families in Tucson realized they were missing. Randy Howard, Joshua Howard, Darryl Holland and Carl
Hopper are the others reported missing.
"Right now I'm really worried. I'm just waiting to hear back," Brinke said when reached in Tucson. Her mother and brother are in Mexico.
A search team found the catamaran Manta off Baja California yesterday about 6 p.m., said Lillian Hopper, Carl Hopper's wife.
The boat belongs to Hopper, 42, a self-employed painting contractor.
Police from Caborca, Son., called the RV park Playa Bonita, where families and friends are staying, and left messages about finding the boat, she
said.
About eight family members and friends rented three planes to look for the men, a distraught Hopper said over a cell phone.
Michelle Hutton, Darryl Holland's sister, said his mother went to Mexico on Monday but came back yesterday because of health reasons. Hutton and her
two sisters have young children and couldn't go.
"It's very nerve-racking not to see things firsthand," she said. "I'm hoping that they're just starving, hungry and tired. I hope that's the worst
that we find them in."
Holland, 42, is a computer programmer.
"All the media, the authorities, all the volunteers have just been working far and beyond to help find these guys," Hutton said. "The government down
in Mexico have been wonderful, the authorities in Arizona, just everyone has worked tirelessly."
Korrine Varmega of Los Angeles, Randy Howard's sister-in-law and Joshua Howard's aunt, said her sister, Sheryl, and her other nephew were in Mexico on
a family vacation. Randy is in his 40s and works for a local train company, and Joshua, 21, is a student, she said.
TO DONATE:
An account - the Fishermen Rescue Fund - has been set up at all Bank of America branches, and deposits will go to pay for search and rescue efforts,
according to Michelle Hutton.
The account number is 004656170982.
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http://www.dailystar.com/star/today/31029MISSINGFISHERMEN.ht...
Missing boat from Tucson is found
By Ignacio Ibarra and Thomas Stauffer
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
PUERTO PE?ASCO, Sonora - A boat carrying five Tucsonans reported missing over the weekend was found capsized Tuesday afternoon about 100 miles
southwest of this popular coastal city, family and officials said.
Marlin Brinke was in a private search plane family members had hired to scan areas in the Gulf of California where they believed the men had gone
fishing, when the capsized vessel was spotted about 3 p.m. He said its registration numbers matched those of the 24-foot boat his father, Mark Brinke,
47, and the others used to go fishing from Puerto Pe?asco, about 60 miles south of the Arizona border.
Missing along with Brinke are Carl Hopper, the owner of the boat, Daryl Holland, Randy Howard and his son Joshua Howard.
The five men had gone to Puerto Pe?asco, also known as Rocky Point, to go sport fishing Saturday morning and were expected back in port Saturday
night. When they failed to return, Mexican officials began searching for the boat.
There was no sign of the missing men nor debris around the capsized boat. However, Brinke said, another passenger in the Cessna reportedly spotted a
small raft some eight miles south of the capsized boat.
Brink, 22, said visibility from the airplane was difficult because of the water's glare.
The boat was located about 20 miles south of Isla de los Angeles, Angel Island, which is about 80 miles southwest of Puerto Pe?asco, said Samuel
Valdez Espinoza, the assistant harbor master for the port.
Boats searching in the gulf were diverted to the site of the capsized vessel about 4 p.m. Tuesday and were expected to reach it well after dark, he
said.
A 24-seat Mexican Navy helicopter was able to examine the capsized boat more closely later Tuesday afternoon but the crew was unable to determine
whether the men were on board or in a raft, said Capt. Florentino Mu?oz Medina, commander of the naval detachment at Puerto Pe?asco. The overturned
boat is located near Puertecitos, a town on the Baja California side of the gulf, he said.
Two navy vessels, one carrying equipment and a crew for underwater recovery, were expected to arrive at the overturned vessel's location late Tuesday.
Mark Brinke's wife, Jane, said a small army of friends and relatives has gathered Puerto Pe?asco to support the family and help with the search.
While upset that the capsized boat was found and there was no sign of the men, Jane Brinke said she hoped it helped with the search. "But now we know
for sure where they were and the searchers know the area to search."
Officials said the search was hampered because Hopper did not file a trip plan with the port authority outlining time of departure, passengers,
destination and return time.
"A lot of us don't," said Dennis Carson, owner of Baja Tackle & Marine, 1293 W. Miracle Mile. "That's not that uncommon."
Officials said there are more than 300 fishing boats working in the area where the group was supposed to have gone.
"The tremendous wind in here can just play holy hell with you," Carson said, pointing on a map to an area in the middle of the gulf west of Puerto
Pe?asco.
Samantha Brinke, Mark Brinke's 21-year-old daughter, said her father owns Brinke Construction Inc. Holland is a computer technician and Hopper owns a
painting businesses, she said. She didn't know Randy Howard's profession but said his son Joshua is a student at the University of Arizona.
At least one person in the party had a cell phone, but coverage is spotty in the area, she said.
Hopper, 42, is an experienced fisherman and boatmen, said his son Chris Hopper.
"He went down there a couple times a year with his boat, and Randy and Josh have been fishing with him for years," said Hopper, 20. "This is actually
the second boat he's had and they're just not stupid as far as taking dumb risks."
Carson said an experienced boatman like Hopper with a well-appointed boat would be expected to have a VHF radio to use in an emergency, and was
puzzled that no mention of a distress call had been made.
"If they had one, they'd have been able to get ahold of anybody, pretty much on both sides of the gulf," Carson said. "It's possible they had some
kind of electrical failure, or just got dumped real quick."
Specific weather and wave conditions for the Gulf of California were not immediately available Tuesday night.
The search for the missing men was the main topic of conversation along the docks and at the boat launches in Puerto Pe?asco, where the dangers of the
Gulf of California are well known to the shrimpers and fishermen who live here.
Locals said gusting wind and waves 6- to 7-feet high caused by an unexpected cold front from the north that closed the port Sunday might have caused
the boat to capsize.
"We were out there on Sunday when the winds started and it got very rough, and we came back in," said Alberto Acu?a, a local fisherman. "I hope they
find them and they are alright. But if the boat is overturned that is not good news."
At La Bajada, a boat launch just south of the docks, Jose Martin Bustamante Valenzuela, said he saw two of the missing men Saturday assemble the boat
and then launch the boat after refusing his assistance. They also refused his offer to watch their boat trailer while they were at sea.
"They put it in the water themselves and drove the trailer away. If they had left it here we would have noticed they hadn't returned, and maybe we
could have gotten the search mobilized faster," said Valenzuela, who makes a living launching and retrieving boats at the public facility.
"The Americans are sometimes very intrepid," he said. "They act like they are going out on a small lake, then the wind starts and they get into
trouble."
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Stephanie Jackter
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I just heard on the news that the family is counting on people donating to the above fund because Mexican Authorities have said that if the men aren't
found today, the official search will be called off, so the family will have to foot the bill for any future searching. - Stephanie
When the goin' gets tough, the wierd turn pro
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Still no sign of Tucsonans missing at sea
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/31030MISSINGFISHERMEN.ht...
30 October 2003
By Ignacio Ibarra and Michael Marizco
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
PUERTO PE?ASCO, Sonora - Mexican authorities found no sign Wednesday of five missing fishermen from Tucson, but were expecting to continue the search
by land and sea today.
Meanwhile, a preliminary search of the catamaran carrying the men - found capsized on Tuesday - showed there were no life jackets aboard, giving
rescuers hope the men survived.
"If they were using their life jackets, and if they had a means of getting water, perhaps we'll find them still alive," said Capt. Florentino Mu?oz
Medina, commander of the Mexican Navy detachment in Puerto Pe?asco, about 60 miles south of the Arizona border.
"The best we can hope for is that they are
somewhere on land and that's where we'll find them," he said.
Missing are: Mark Brinke, 47; Daryl Holland, 42; Carl Hopper, 42; Randy Howard, 47, and his son Joshua Howard, 21.
The five men had gone to Puerto Pe?asco, also known as Rocky Point, to go sport fishing Saturday morning and were expected back in port Saturday
night. When they failed to return, Mexican officials began searching for the boat.
The capsized 24-foot boat was lost again for a short time Wednesday after first being sighted Tuesday, but by afternoon was on its way to Puertecitos,
a coastal town on the Baja side of the Gulf of California. Authorities said they will perform a more thorough search there, opening hatches water
pressure prevented them from opening at sea.
The Mexican Navy towed the boat to Puertecitos from the site where it was found, some 20 miles north of Isla Angel de la Guardia. The island is about
about 80 miles southwest of Puerto Pe?asco.
Crew members from the Mexican Navy searched the capsized vessel and found no evidence of the fishermen, officials said.
The same Mexican helicopter that located the boat Wednesday is assigned now to search the gulf coast of Baja California, from a point south of San
Felipe east toward Puerto Pe?asco to an area south of Puertecitos, Mu?oz Medina said.
The Mexican Navy is also conducting a ground search of the Baja California area, he said.
A pre-dawn launch Wednesday by members of the Puerto Pe?asco Port Authority and family members on a private 48-foot yacht volunteered for the search
by a Gilbert man was called off because of high winds and strong waves.
By midafternoon, winds were about 15 mph, with 20 mph gusts. The conditions were similar to the weekend, when the men were reported missing, said Jose
German Islada, a commander with the Mexican Maritime Guard in Puerto Pe?asco.
German Islada said that although four days have passed, he is also hopeful that the men will be found alive. He cited a case last year in which
several men were lost in the same area, surviving seven days at sea before being found by fishermen.
Steve Calvert, a Tucson business owner and pilot, flew his four-seat Cessna 182 to Rocky Point Wednesday to help look for the men.
Flying at 400 feet, Calvert searched the ocean and found the Mexican Navy towing the capsized boat. He estimated the boat was 67 miles out at sea.
He speculated the boat did not capsize unless it lost power, shortening the amount of time the men would have to stay afloat in the water.
Calvert said he didn't know the men very well, but is acquainted with at least one of them.
"I hope someone would do the same for me," he said, recounting the time he was stranded off San Carlos for 16 hours in a boat that lost power.
Spirits remained high Wednesday among relatives and friends gathered in Puerto Pe?asco and helping in the search. The children of some of the missing
men crowded into a small motorhome facing the coastline.
Chris Hopper, 20, and his wife, Lorraina, 22, came to Rocky Point Tuesday. Hopper said his father promised him a fishing trip in December.
"Hopefully, I'll get the chance to do that when he gets back" he said, his eyes red but his voice steady."Basically, who my dad is, I want to be just
like him."
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Wind, high seas cut short towing of boat to port
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/fri/31031LOSTATSEA.html
By Michael Marizco and Ignacio Ibarra
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
PUERTO PE?ASCO, Sonora - Winds that gusted up to 50 mph and 6-foot waves forced the Mexican navy Thursday to abandon its effort to bring an overturned
fishing boat to port.
There was still no sign of the five missing fishermen from Tucson, and Mexican officials, friends and family members plan to continue their search.
The five men had gone to Puerto Pe?asco, also known as Rocky Point, to go sport fishing Saturday morning and were expected back in port Saturday
night. When they failed to return, Mexican officials began searching for the boat.
Missing are: Mark Brinke, 47; Daryl Holland, 42; Carl Hopper, 42; and Randy Howard, 47, and his son Joshua Howard, 21.
The 24-foot catamaran the men were riding was sitting 35 miles out from Puertecitos, a fishing town on the Baja side of the Gulf of California. A navy
helicopter was to keep an eye on the vessel overnight, said Capt. Florentino Mu?oz Medina, commander of the Mexican Navy detachment in Puerto Pe?asco.
The P210 Ramirez, the navy patrol boat assigned to the overturned boat, returned to Puerto Pe?asco in the afternoon, its crew exhausted and the bow
slightly damaged.
"The conditions of the sea were not favorable," said Capt. Oscar Valencia Palacios, the ship's commander.
The catamaran is still upside down, though divers entered and ascertained nobody was inside, said Sergio Dominguez, a navy diver.
Two ships were dispatched from Guaymas Thursday and the catamaran will likely be towed farther up the coast to San Felipe, a coastal town north of
Puertecitos, Mu?oz said.
While the rescue effort continues, Mu?oz said if the men survived, it is unlikely they remain in the water. He said no ships have reported picking
them up and many people live on and fish the islands the men might have reached.
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Search for Tucson fishermen missing off Rocky Point to end
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1106Missing-Americans...
Associated Press
Nov. 6, 2003
TUCSON - In a painful decision, the families of four Tucson fishermen missing for nearly two weeks off Rocky Point will call off their search
Thursday. Only one of the original five has been found.
Twenty-one-year-old Joshua Howard was found earlier this week floating face-down in the water, wearing a life vest and tied to two ice chests.
The missing are identified as 47-year-old Mark Brinke, 42-year-old Daryl Holland, 42-year-old Carl Hopper and Joshua Howard's father, 47-year-old
Randy Howard.
Private pilots, friends from Tucson and the Mexican navy all searched for the men in the waters off Rocky Point and Baja California.
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"It's Treacherous Sea"
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=1509811
The story of the five missing fishermen off Rocky Point is hitting close to home for 76-year-old Opha Watson. He survived being stranded at sea
thirteen years ago off the coast of San Carlos, after the boat he was in sank. Like them, he struggled to stay alive once his boat went down.
Watson says, "There was two women and two men. By 5:00 that evening they were all dead."
On January 1, 1990, he was one of 16 divers aboard a scuba boat that capsized and sank in the Sea of Cortez.
"The water was 53 degrees."
In an amazing stroke of luck, Opha's dive bag floated to the surface. Struggling through seven foot swells, he put on his wetsuit. Opha, with four
other people, clinged to a wooden door.
Over the next 24 hours, he watched his fellow survivors slowly die and drift away. A man named Joe was the last to go.
"His one comment was he knew he was going but he said I don't know how to die."
Opha found himself floating all alone in a huge sea of water. Dehydration began to set in.
"The hunger wasn't bad but the thirst got really bad. Your mouth dries out and if you don't watch out you're chewing your cheeks real bad and you
don't even realize it."
After 40 long hours, Opha was finally rescued by another boat. He knows the anguish the families of the five missing fishermen are going through.
Opha says, "The only thing I could say to the surviving family members is to remember and accept what's happened. Go ahead, that's the only thing you
can do but it should be a lesson to anybody that wants to go boating or fishing on the Sea of Cortez. It's treacherous sea."
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capt. mike
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Mood: Sling time!
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I was returning from Mazatlan new years
trip when upon landing at Guaymas we were asked to join the search. That was a horrific story - Much has been written about that converted shrimper
used as a live aboard for dive trips to San perdro Martir. All were from Tucson. the operator was run out of Mexico. He was lucky it didn't happen in
U.S. waters. The law suits would have been huge.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Body identified as 1 of 5 men lost at sea
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1201missingamericans-...
Associated Press
Dec. 1, 2003
TUCSON - A body found floating in the Gulf of California has been positively identified one of five Tucson men lost at sea in October.
A fisherman found Mark Brinke's body Nov. 19 floating five miles offshore and 10 miles north of Angel Island, which is about 80 miles southwest of
Rocky Point, according to Brinke family friend John Eckhoff.
The family was contacted by the U.S. Consulate on Nov. 23 and told that the body might be Brinke's. The family confirmed the body was his last week.
Autopsy results indicate Brinke drowned, Eckhoff said.
Brinke's body was transported to Ensenada, Mexico, where it was cremated. The Brinke family picked up the ashes in San Diego on Sunday.
The discovery of the body brought a melancholy closure to Brinke's family, Eckhoff said.
"Deep inside we know they are gone, but when you are talking about family and friends you always hope for the best," Eckhoff said.
Brinke, a 47-year-old contractor, disappeared along with four other men on Oct. 25 when they never returned from a weekend fishing trip.
The only other fisherman's body to be found was that of Joshua Howard, 21, which was discovered Nov. 2, floating about 17 miles southwest of Rocky
Point.
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BajaBronco
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God bliss to the families...
I have been reading this thread (im at work) for an hour now, this has brough tears to my eyes. Sad...
~Marissa~
[Edited on 08-25-1973 by BajaBronco]
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