Fisherman, Fiancee Vanish off SoCal Coast

May 12, 2008— -- The Coast Guard's search for a fisherman and his fiancee last seen leaving a Southern California marina last Thursday ended this weekend after American officials learned that their abandoned boat had washed ashore on a Mexican beach.

Josh Hartman, 28, a commercial fisherman described as a skilled sea captain, and his fiancee, Mexican native Ana Martin, 30, were reported missing last week when they failed to return from a fishing trip aboard Hartman's 32-foot boat Pelican. They left the marina in Oceanside, Calif., at 7:30 a.m. Thursday with a scheduled 3 p.m. return.

The pair was last heard from that afternoon when Hartman called a friend around 3:30 to say he was not going to be back to shore to pick up bait on time because the fishing was going so well, Cmdr. Danny LeBlanc, acting Coast Guard Sector San Diego commander, told ABC News.

The last confirmed sighting of the pair was made around noon by another fisherman in the popular fishing area about 6 miles from shore. They also had been in radio contact sporadically throughout the early afternoon with another boat.

Hartman's father and brother reported the pair missing around 8 p.m. Thursday after the Pelican failed to return to port and calls to their cell phones went unanswered.

As the Coast Guard launched its search for the pair from the air and on the water, receiving help from the local harbor patrol, the abandoned Pelican ran aground around 7 a.m. Friday on a beach just north of Rosarito, Mexico, a Baja California resort town south of Tijuana.

It was not until 8 p.m., however, that the Coast Guard received word from the Mexican navy confirming reports in the Tijuana media that the boat they were searching for had washed up on shore in Mexico.

On Saturday, the Coast Guard suspended its search for the pair primarily based on "survivability models" that show that even in a survival suit, it is unlikely someone could last for more than 12 hours in the Pacific Ocean's 63-degree waters.

The Coast Guard also began the process required to gain access to Mexico to search the Pelican and open what LeBlanc called "concurrent investigations" by the Mexican government and the U.S. Coast Guard.

There was no obvious sign of foul play onboard the boat, where authorities recovered both Hartman and Martin's cellular phones, his wallet and her purse. The key was in the ignition and there appeared to be some fuel left in the tank. Investigators later determined that 18 gallons of diesel had been purchased by Hartman earlier that day.

There were also a pair of .22-caliber rifles stored on the boat, weapons Hartman's family said were not out of the ordinary for the fisherman. An inflatable boat was also onboard.

For now, the boat and its contents remain in the custody of Mexican officials," LeBlanc said. "We're dealing with several different entities in the Mexican government and navy in order to collaborate on the investigation and the return of the equipment to the Hartmans and the Coast Guard."

When the boat is returned, the Coast Guard will attempt to use the Pelican's GPS chart-plotter to trace the exact path the boat took between Thursday afternoon, when it was last seen, and Friday morning when it arrived in Mexico.