Second Victim Found in Wake of Boating Tragedy on S.F. Bay

A second victim of Tuesday’s boating tragedy involving the 51-ft Marine Trader Volare on San Francisco Bay has been confirmed. San Francisco police recovered the body of a 58-year-old woman on Thursday. She was later identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office as Tondra Madruga of Sacramento County. Twenty people were aboard Volare on Tuesday afternoon to scatter the ashes of a family member when the boat sank approximately 600 yards off Alcatraz.

Police said that Tondra’s body was recovered west of Treasure Island on Thursday. Officers had been searching for the sunken vessel using sonar scanning when a passing boat alerted the officers to the body, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Bob Kingston, a captain with Pegasus Voyages, was sailing with a group of teenagers, observing sea life, when they spotted a body floating face down off Treasure Island. Latitude ambassador Gerry Gragg tells us, “At first Bob thought it might have been a dummy used for MOB drills, but a closer look determined it to be a human body. Observing maritime protocols, Bob and his crew dropped their sails and stood on station until the authorities arrived.

“Bob directed the kids on board to look away from the body, and provided distraction by reviewing with them the value of sharp observation, and the need to alert authorities, if a safety related issue presented itself, while they were at sea.”

The first confirmed death occurred on Tuesday. Clifford Boisa, 79, brother of Volare’s owner and captain John Boisa, died after he was pulled from the water soon after the accident. Clifford’s wife Jackie Boisa and his sister Carol Boisa are still missing.

Clifford and John Boisa’s brother Ralph Boisa, who was not aboard Volare on Tuesday, told reporters that most of the passengers were extended family who had gathered to spread the ashes of his adopted daughter Maria Boisa, who died in 2015. Tondra Madruga was a friend of Maria’s.

When another daughter of Ralph Boisa told him of the accident, she said that the group was unaware of anything happening. “They’re sitting, and all of a sudden, the boat went over,” Boisa said.

Witnesses and good Samaritans on the Bay reported having seen smoke coming from Volare prior to her sinking. There has not been a confirmed report of a fire aboard, but there is speculation that the “smoke” could have been steam coming from the engine as the boat sank lower into the water.

Two fishermen were among those first on the scene. They were able to get some of the people out of the water, but believed others were trapped inside. They described the situation in this video shared by ABC7.

While the broad-scale search for the remaining victims was called off late Wednesday, authorities are continuing to work on locating Volare and possibly raising the vessel from the bottom of the Bay.

Our condolences go out to all concerned.