The pair died after their boat sank into water around 8 a.m. on July 11, about 1.5 miles offshore.
Santa Barbara, CA. – The Santa Barbara County Coroner's Bureau identified the two people who died in a boating accident that happened last Friday off Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara as Robert Hirami Johnson, 69, of Azusa, and David Edgar Holmes, 65, of Apple Valley.
The pair died after their boat sank into water around 8 a.m. on July 11, about 1.5 miles offshore.
Johnson, Holmes, and two others, including a juvenile, had taken a 24-foot skipjack-style boat on a fishing trip when the engine quit, and the captain noticed the boat was taking on water.
A mayday call was made, and the boat started to sink minutes later, according to a survivor.
Three rescue boats – two from Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol and the Shearwater, a NOAA research vessel with four crew and a contingent of UCSB students on board – responded to the call.
The responders found the four victims in the water, and only the boat's bow was showing.
The rescuers got the parties from the water and determined that Johnson and Holmes were unconscious.
Johnson and Holmes were offered CPR aboard the rescue boats and on land before they were taken to Cottage Hospital.
Johnson was pronounced dead shortly after the rescue, and Holmes was pronounced dead the same day in the afternoon.
The juvenile and the other victim were treated at the hospital and released.
The boat sank completely under the waters, and its location remained unknown.
The Harbor Patrol and other agencies are investigating the accident.