Fiance missing at sea, woman holds on to hope
LOS ANGELES - The US Coast Guard and Mexico's navy today expanded their search at sea for seven Americans missing for more than two days off Mexico's Baja California coast. They were on a Fourth of July fishing trip when their chartered boat capsized.
CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports family members refuse to give up hope.
A Coast Guard C-130 took off from Sacramento, Calif., this morning. It is now over the Gulf of California searching for those missing Americans.
CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports their 115 foot fishing vessel "The Erik" was hit by a sudden storm at 2:30 in the morning on Sunday. Two huge waves knocked it over. It sank in just 4 minutes.
Search continues for 7 missing off of Mexico coast
Kristina Bronstein says she's "devastated beyond belief." Her husband was onboard. He's still missing, but she thinks he's alive.
"I'm just going with my gut instinct in that I think he's somewhere. I don't think he's doing well. I don't think he's passed," Bronstein said.
One American is confirmed dead. 19 others and all 16 crew embers have been rescued. Some clung to coolers and life vests for 16 hours. Others were found by people from a remote fishing village.
"We're really grateful for that or possible we would still be out there," one survivor said.
The boat was at full capacity when it went down about 60 miles south of San Felipe - a popular fishing resort town. Richard Ciabattari believes he swam 8 miles to shore after being tossed into the water. He called his wife Jan Askew from a pay phone.
"I asked how he was doing. He said he was ok but that the boat had sunk," Askew said. "I was of course in shock."
With calm seas and water temperatures near 80 degrees, there is still hope of finding survivors.
Mexican authorities are now working to get the rescued home. Most drove to Mexico from San Francisco. Their car keys and passports are now at the bottom of the ocean.
