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Coast Guard Plane From Sacramento To Help In Search For Missing Fisherman

 

SACRAMENTO (CBS13/AP) – A Coast Guard crew and plane from Sacramento is headed to Mexico after being  called in to help search for seven people still missing at sea after their boat capsized off the coast of Baja, California.

The Coast Guard crew boarded the C130 this morning at McClellan Air Field and took off around 9:30 this morning.

The Coast Guard C-130 will join Mexican rescuers who are scouring the Gulf of California for seven Americans whose fishing boat capsized two days ago. 

tuolumne missing
Missing fishermen from Tuolumne County: Mark Dorland (left), Albert Mein (right)

Two of the missing are from Twain Harte.  CBS13 spoke with the fiance of Mark Dorland on Monday evening at her home in Tuolumne County.  Also missing is Albert Mein.  Albert's son, Joe Jacinto, is now in Mexico helping search for his father.

Rescuers say they are extending their search because the missing tourists could still be alive in the warm, calm waters.

One American has been confirmed dead in the accident, which came after a flash storm upended the boat before dawn Sunday, spilling dozens of tourists and crew members into the water. The identity of the dead man was not released.

By early Monday, 19 of the tourists and all 16 crew members had been picked up by the navy or other fishing boats after clinging to coolers, rescue rings and life vests for more than 16 hours.

The 115-foot vessel, the Erik, sank about 60 miles south of the port of San Felipe around 2:30 a.m. local time Sunday, the second day of a weeklong fishing trip the group had organized for several years each Independence Day holiday.

   The boat capsized less than two miles (three kilometers) from shore, but the navy extended its search 60 miles (100 kilometers) deeper into the gulf later Monday after searching the area by helicopter and airplane and finding nothing, Pineda said.

   Most of the 27 men on the fishing excursion are from Northern California and had made the trip before.

   "I'm beyond concerned," said Kristina Bronstein, who is engaged to Mark Dorland of Twain Harte.  Bronstein spoke with CBS13's Ron Jones about her fiancé.

   She heard about the accident Monday morning from a trip organizer's wife, who told her Dorland, 62, was one of the first people to fall into the water. He wasn't wearing a life vest.

   The couple are to be married next month.

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