SF Police, Fire Boats Can't Find Dead Body Spotted By Tugboat Crew Near Pier 50
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) -- Workers on San Francisco's waterfront had quite a shock Saturday morning. As a tugboat crew was removing a dilapidated dry dock in the bay near Pier 50, a dead body floated to the surface.
The body was in such bad shape, the crew couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. The corpse had been in the water for some time.
The tugboat crew couldn't recover it, but they alerted authorities.
Police marine units and fire boats headed to the scene.
"Yes, [I was] a little startled this morning when I came in and received the call," said Battalion Chief, Pete Fay of the SF Fire Department.
Fay and his crew had few details and many variables working against a successful search and recovery.
"In this case, we are talking torso, we're talking the idea of how long it's been down, we're talking about once gases are released so possibly a body could float to the surface," said the Chief.
The tug boat crew was 300 yards out when the body surfaced around 7:30 Saturday morning. They were towing a WWII-era dry dock containing asbestos from Pier 50 to a ship heading to China. The job was so time sensitive, they had to continue towing, but they alerted rescue crews about what they saw.
Unfortunately, by the time rescuers arrived, the body was gone. It had slipped slipping back into the bay eluding the searchers.
As for the identity of the body, crews speculate it could have been a kayaker who went missing on the bay several years ago near the same dock. Of course, there is no way to verify that unless the body resurfaces again.
