Oceanside Boat Washes Up in Mexico

The search for an Oceanside couple was called off Saturday, a day after their 32-ft fishing boat washed ashore at Rosarito, Mexico. Josh Hartman, 28, and his fiancée Ana Martin, 30, reportedly left Oceanside Thursday morning aboard Pelican to collect a catch of hagfish, for which a buyer was to meet them at the dock that afternoon. Hartman’s brother said he received a call around 3 p.m. that the couple were on their way back in with a good catch. They were never heard from again.

Hartman’s family reported them overdue that night and searched with the Coast Guard through Friday, finding nothing. Meanwhile, Pelican apparently washed up on a Rosarito beach sometime Friday morning but a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said the agency wasn’t informed until around 9 p.m., when a Mexican TV station called them for comment. The Coast Guard and Mexican Navy searched the waters near Rosarito on Saturday but, when the couple weren’t found by late afternoon, the search was called off "based on survivability in 63-degree waters."

Hartman and Martin’s disappearance is a real mystery as the weather was benign and there was no apparent evidence of piracy or violence. Hartman’s family reported that he often motored under autopilot which might explain how the boat made it all the way to Mexico.