Leonardo New Bedford

11/24/2019

The scalloper Leonardo capsized and sank in a storm, about 24 miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The Coast Guard responded to a distress signal sent at 3:18 p.m. with the cutters Cobia and Escanaba, as well as a Jayhawk helicopter.

They found crew member Ernie Garcia in a lifeboat and took him to a hospital. He reported that a rogue wave had struck the boat before the crew was able to don life vests.

The Leonardo was located two weeks later by an ROV robot. It was sitting upright 140 feet down, near where it was reported missing.

The bodies of the other three crew members have not been found.