One Sutter County man died and three others remain missing after a boat based out of Stockton sank in the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday afternoon.
Jul 15, 2026
Updated 11:52 am PT
Jet skis patrol the water near Alcatraz looking for three missing individuals after a pontoon boat capsized on July 14, 2026, in San Francisco, California. Sixteen people were rescued, and one death has been reported. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
One person is dead and three remain missing after a boat carrying 20 passengers sank in the San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island on Tuesday afternoon.
The deceased, Clifford Joseph Boisa, 79, of Sutter County, was identified Wednesday morning by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. San Francisco Fire Department Chief Dean Crispin said officers with San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit were the first on the scene, and saw a man in the water in “severe distress” near the capsized pontoon boat.
They initiated CPR, but after transporting him to Gas House Cove in the Marina District, he was pronounced dead.
Three passengers were injured and transported to local hospitals and are in stable condition, according to SFFD Chief Dean Crispin. SFFD confirmed one dog also died in the sinking.
A San Francisco Fire Department boat pictured in the waters near Alcatraz on July 15, 2026.
Crispin said the passengers were mostly made up of family members, and that he believed they were participating in “some kind of memorial service” when they were hit by a wave, took on water and the boat capsized.
“We are going to continue this search and rescue operation,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a video post on Instagram on Wednesday around 10:00 a.m. “We will keep you posted, and let’s just keep everybody in our thoughts.”
Officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and SFFD said that search and rescue teams would continue to look for the missing mariners throughout the night.
Lt. Mariano Elias, public information officer for the San Francisco Fire Department, described the vessel as a 50-foot “cabin cruiser” pontoon boat named Volare. He said the boat was based out of Stockton.
People were jumping in the water when rescuers arrived and the boat was already mostly under water, Elias said.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter team looks for three people missing on July 16, 2026, after a boat capsized in the San Francisco Bay on July 15.
“The reports we’ve had from witnesses is that there were rough seas, and apparently the vessel began to take on water and was turned over in the bay,” Crispin said.
At 3:37 p.m., the SFFD received a report of a vessel in distress or on fire approximately 600 yards off of Alcatraz Island, Crispin said.
Crispin said the vessel left from the St. Francis Yacht Club, but despite initial reports the San Francisco Fire Departments did not see evidence of a fire.
The U.S. Coast Guard is leading search and rescue efforts.
“ We have modeling software that predicts the location of where our missing mariners could be. We use that very strictly to provide assets, and throughout the night we will have surface and air assets providing coverage,” Coast Guard Lt. John Corvino said.
Officials initially reported the boat had 19 passengers, but after talking to witnesses, determined there were 20 people on board.
There were 47 fatalities due to recreational boating incidents in California in 2024, according to the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways. Compared to open coastal waters, fatalities from recreational boating accidents are relatively rare in the San Francisco Bay.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter is pictured over the waters near Alcatraz on July 15, 2026.
Zero deaths were reported in the San Francisco Bay from boating accidents in 2019, dipping from 3 deaths in 2015, according to DBW.
For pontoon boats specifically, the most common types of accidents in 2019 were related to operator inexperience or inattention.
That mirrors trends nationwide where boating-related deaths occur predominantly on vessels operated by people lacking safety instruction, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Alcohol is also considered a leading contributing factor in boating accidents and fatalities.
This is a developing story and will be updated.