JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two vacationing couples — including sisters — and a fishing boat captain were on a charter boat found partially submerged in southeast Alaska over the weekend amid rough seas, family members said Wednesday.
The 30-foot (9-meter) aluminum charter vessel was overdue Sunday evening and last seen earlier that day near Sitka, a community about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Juneau, according to the Coast Guard. Crews later found the boat off an island about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Sitka.
Maury Agcaoili, 57, of Waipahu, Hawaii, was found unresponsive in the water and later pronounced dead. His partner Danielle Agcaoili, 53, is among the missing boaters. The missing also include her sister Brandi Tyau, 56, of Canoga Park, California; Tyau's partner, Robert Solis, 61; and the boat captain, Morgan Robidou, 32, of Sitka.
The search for the four missing people was suspended by the Coast Guard late Monday.
The charter company, Kingfisher Charters, said in a statement that it was “devastated by the loss of the guests and captain of the Awakin. We are fully cooperating with the U.S. Coast Guard in its investigation of this tragic event and hope that it furnishes answers to the questions as to how it occurred.”
The sisters' parents and brother were also on the trip with them but had taken a separate boat, according to Jim Solis, the brother of Robert Solis.
The brothers grew up in Burbank, California, Jim Solis said. Solis and Tyau met in Hawaii several decades ago when Solis, a Navy diver, was stationed there as an instructor. They have a son together. The couple loved to fish together.
“He was a big surfer, a really good musician. He played guitar and put together songs,” Jim Solis said of his brother. “The ocean really was his life.”
Solis became a private investigator in 1992 after eight years in the military, according to the website for his firm, The RES Group.
He was introduced to the work by an acquaintance and “felt the attraction to the field in that each and every case while having similarities depending on the nature of the case, each and every instance also had differences in that no two cases should be treated the same,” he wrote on his website.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday released the names of four people who remain missing after the charter fishing boat they were on was found partially submerged in southeast Alaska. The recovered body of a fifth person has also been identified.
Alaska State Troopers identified those missing as Danielle Agcaoili, 53, of Waipahu, Hawaii; Robert Solis, 61, and Brandi Tyau, 56, of Canoga Park, California; and Morgan Robidou, 32, of Sitka, Alaska, the boat captain. Maury Agcaoili, 57, of Waipahu, Hawaii, was found unresponsive in the water by the U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday and pronounced dead at a hospital in Sitka, according to the troopers.
The charter included two couples: the Agcaoilis and Solis and Tyau, said Tim DeSpain, a troopers spokesperson. It was unclear what happened.
According to the Coast Guard, Kingfisher Charters on Sunday evening reported that a 30-foot (9-meter) aluminum charter vessel with five people aboard was overdue. The boat was last seen earlier that day near Sitka, a community about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Juneau.
The Coast Guard found the boat partially submerged off an island about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Sitka on Sunday evening.
The search for the four missing people was suspended by the Coast Guard late Monday.
Petty Officer Ian Gray has said the region was experiencing 6- (1.8-meter) to 11-foot (3.35-meter) seas on Sunday.
The charter company has not responded to a message seeking comment from The Associated Press.
Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the state troopers, said Wednesday that the three passengers and captain are still considered missing persons. He said authorities hope to learn more once the boat is recovered.
The troopers said efforts to recover the vessel have been ongoing, with rough seas and strong winds at the site.
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Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press News Researcher Randy Herschaft in New York contributed.
Becky Bohrer And Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press