OCEANSIDE – The search for a missing Oceanside couple ended yesterday evening, a day after their empty fishing boat washed ashore near Rosarito, Mexico, Coast Guard officials said.
Family photo
Josh Hartman (left) and Ana Martin
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Josh Hartman, 28, and his fiancee, Ana Martin, left Oceanside Harbor at 7:30 a.m. Thursday on their 32-foot fishing boat, the Pelican, and were supposed to return by 3 p.m., authorities said. Family members reported them missing that evening.
Coast Guard aircraft scanned the Southern California shoreline and more than 6,400 square miles offshore Thursday night and Friday. The Mexican navy joined the search after the discovery of the boat, said Cmdr. Danny LeBlanc, the Coast Guard sector commander.
Hartman, who has fished commercially from his boat for the past two years, was supposed to sell a load of slime eels to a buyer at the dock when he returned that afternoon, family friend Andy Bodjanac said.
Martin, 30, often helps out on fishing trips.
Hartman called his family by cell phone that afternoon to say they were headed back to land, but no one has heard from or seen the couple since.
“He's a good boater. Very responsible,” Bodjanac said yesterday. “He has plenty of experience on the water.”
The boat was well-equipped for emergencies, including several VHF radios tied to a Global Positioning System, he said.
On Friday, Bodjanac and Hartman's brother were among a handful of other boaters who combed the sea near San Onofre looking for clues. Hartman is known to fish with the autopilot on, which may explain how the boat got all the way to Mexico, Bodjanac said.
The Coast Guard was notified Friday night by a Mexican television station that the boat had turned up near Rosarito, a resort town about 20 miles south of the border.
Coast Guard officials said an investigation of the boat showed no evidence of foul play, and the life raft appeared to still be on board.
Staff writer Steve Liewer contributed to this report.
Kristina Davis: (619) 542-4591; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com
