Only five of them were first-timers on a five-night trip aboard the Erik, during which the sportsmen would venture deep into the sea aboard smaller pangas in search of yellowfin tuna and dorado, relatives said. Most of the 27 were Asian-American men from the San Francisco Bay area and nearby, relatives said.
Those close ties heightened the depth of the tragedy, especially as U.S. and Mexican authorities spent nine days searching the vast expanse of the Sea of Cortez.
In addition to the seven missing men, Leslie Yee, 63, died in the incident. Among the survivors, several were rescued from a Mexican beach. One person was rescued from a coastal island.
The families have expressed frustration with the investigation. A State Department official said the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are helping Mexican authorities with the probe.
Still, the families say they are disturbed that there was apparently no mayday issued during the sinking of the Erik. Also, the boat apparently didn't carry a satellite tracking device that's often deployed when a boat is in distress, relatives say.
In their social media and website campaign to attract public attention to their plight, the families have become so exasperated with the two governments' apparent reluctance to conduct a dive 200 feet beneath the sea that they are trying to raise money to execute a privately funded dive -- if they can raise enough funds on their "Find Our Fathers" website and if the Mexican government will allow the dive.
The families are haunted by unanswered questions, their representatives say: Did the 16-member crew abandon ship without trying to help the passengers? Did the vessel have enough life preservers? Why did it take 16 hours before a search and rescue was launched?
