Boat belonging to missing SoCal couple found in Mexico

05/10/08 17:51:57
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The fishing boat belonging to an Oceanside couple who went missing at sea this week has washed up on the beach near Rosarito, Mexico, authorities said Saturday, and the search for the pair was taken over by the Mexican Navy.

No one was on board the 32-foot boat when it landed ashore Friday north of Rosarito, a beach community 20 miles south of the border, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jeremy Denning said.

A Coast Guard aerial search for the vessel named Pelican was called off, he said, but the Mexican Navy would continue to search the area off Baja California near where the boat was found.

Josh Hartman, 27, and his fiancee, 31-year-old Ana Martin, were last seen heading out Thursday morning from Oceanside Harbor to fish for bait, his mother Marsha Hartman said.

Hartman called his brother that afternoon to say he caught a lot of fish and was heading back, but no one heard from him since, she said.

She said her son was an expert boater who had been working in commercial fishing for more than two years.

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