Authorities served search warrants Sunday in Santa Barbara to gather information related to an excursion boat fire in the Channel Islands which killed 34 people. Agents with the FBI served warrants at the offices of Truth Aquatics, the company which owns the Conception. They also searched two other boats owned by the company.
Crime scene tape was put up at the offices and docks at Santa Barbara Harbor, as a number of items were removed by investigators.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Eric Rainey says warrants of this type are a routine part of investigations of this type. 33 passengers and one crew member died in the early morning fire off of Santa Cruz Island. All but one of the bodies has been recovered.
A salvage operation which got underway last week was able to upright the 75 foot long boat, which capsized after the fire. But, it’s still submerged at this point. Rough weather led to the operation being suspended for the weekend.
