Santa Barbara 9/10/19 – The Santa Barbara County Sheriff – Coroner’s Office has confirmed the identities of 5 additional victims who died when the dive boat Conception caught fire in the early morning hours of Monday, September 2^nd in the waters off of Santa Cruz Island.

The Coroner’s Office, with the assistance of rapid DNA technology, has positively identified an additional 5 victims.  33 victims have been recovered, and positive identification and notification to families have occurred for 27 of those victims recovered.  Additional family DNA samples are being routed to the Coroner’s Office.  Once received, Investigators will be able to compare and match the DNA profiles with the last 6 victims currently in the Coroner’s Office care.  Those final identifications are anticipated to be confirmed later this week.

The additional victims have been identified as:

Adrian Dahood-Fritz               40        F          Sacramento, CA
Lisa Fiedler                             52        F          Mill Valley, CA
Kristina “Kristy” Finstad          41        F          Tamrick Pines, CA
Fernisa Sison                         57        F          Stockton, CA
Kristian Takvam                      34        M         San Francisco, CA

The Conception Incident Unified Command has evaluated the weather conditions in the Santa Barbara Channel, and determined that conditions were appropriate to resume search and recovery operations.  Divers from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and National Parks Service traveled to the scene early this morning, and are resuming the search for the remaining missing victim.

Additionally, Salvage operations are anticipated to resume tomorrow.  The Coast Guard will continue to oversee the implementation of the salvage plan.  Environmental concerns will be mitigated in coordination with the National Parks Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and California Office of Spill Prevention and Response.