Alaska State Troopers have identified the person who died in a boating accident near Petersburg last week as 73-year-old Susan Paul of California. She was in a 20-foot Hewescraft skiff that sank after a collision with a larger seine boat.
A spokesperson with the U.S. Coast Guard, which is leading the investigation, said it’s unclear what led to the accident.
A second person on board the skiff — 71-year-old Gordon Paul also of California — survived. He was taken to a local hospital after the two boats collided.
The U.S. Coast Guard based in Juneau was first alerted to the collision just before 9 a.m. on June 5. It happened about 11 miles south of Petersburg in the Wrangell Narrows. The larger vessel has been identified as the 58-foot seiner Vis, which fishes out of Petersburg.
Crew from the Vis and a nearby boater pulled Gordon Paul from the water. He was transported to a nearby boat launch at Papke’s Landing and driven to Petersburg Medical Center. He was reported to have minor injuries and symptoms of hypothermia.
Search and rescue volunteers flew in from Wrangell to help look for the second person aboard the skiff. They used a thermal drone to spot a fuel plume rising from underneath the water, according to a press release from the group. They narrowed their search area and used a trained rescue dog to pinpoint the likely location. Rescue divers found Susan Paul still with the skiff and were able to recover her body by mid-afternoon.
Alaska State Troopers and the Petersburg Police Department also responded, along with good Samaritans in the area.
Correction: An earlier version of this story included a quote that implied the fishing vessel was at fault. However, officials say, it is not known at this time what led to the collision and an investigation is ongoing.