Search Launched for Mission Beach Panga Passengers

By R. Stickney and Greg Bledsoe

Monday, Aug 25, 2014 • Updated at 9:53 AM PDT

Law enforcement officers are looking for more than a dozen people believed to have come ashore in a panga that landed on Mission Beach Monday.
U.S. Border Patrol officials were on the sand right where West Mission Bay Drive ends and Ventura Place intersects with Strand Way.

The bright red panga was spotted about 6:45 a.m.

Lifeguards reported that about 20 people scattered. They believe there were 18 males and two females who ran into the neighborhood of Mission Beach.

Witnesses say about the group of people got out of the boat and ran towards shore, jumped the sea wall into the boardwalk and took off down an alley.

A Phoenix resident staying near the beach while on vacation took images of the boat and its occupants from her balcony.

Border Patrol officials say they have taken multiple people in custody more than 14 blocks north near El Carmel Point.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loca...#ixzz3BQNAQkJu