Empty boat found in search for fisherman who vanished on Christmas, CA sheriff says

UPDATE: The body of a missing angler was found weeks after his empty boat was discoveredfloating adrift near a California marina, officials said.

A “volunteer aquatic search group, California Recovery Divers,” found William Hady Chebib’s body about a mile “east of the Hamilton Wetlands within the San Pablo Bay waters” on Thursday, Jan. 12, a news release from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said.

The original story is below.

An empty 14-foot boat owned by a fisherman who vanished in San Pablo Bay on Christmas Day has been found, California officials told news outlets.

But search efforts for 32-year-old Will Chebib have been suspended, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Coast Guard told KRON.

Chebib put his boat in the water at Black Point Boat Launch in Novato on Sunday, Dec. 25, a sheriff’s news release said. He was last contacted by phone at 3:30 p.m.

Searchers believe he was fishing in San Pablo Bay off China Camp State Park in San Rafael, the release said. Search teams looked along the shore and on the water for Chebib.

On Monday, Dec. 26, searchers found his boat, Lil LB, was found empty near Point San Pablo at about 11:30 a.m., the Marin Independent Journal reported.

“It’s an unfortunate, difficult situation,” searcher Michael St. John told the publication.

San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms a northern extension of San Francisco Bay.

The U.S. Coast Guard asks that anyone with information call 1-877-249-2824.

This story was originally published December 28, 2022 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Empty boat found in search for fisherman who vanished on Christmas, CA sheriff says."