The video above was broadcast on Jan. 25, 2025.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A suspected smuggling boat that capsized off the coast of Ocean Beach last month resulted in the death of a woman onboard.
Maribel Merino Bernardo, 57, of Mexico, was identified as the person who died from drowning, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office said on its website.
On the morning of Jan. 25, a call came in about an overturned vessel inside the surf in the area of Abbott Street and Saratoga Avenue, according to the San Diego-Fire Rescue Department.
When authorities arrived on scene, they found Bernardo, as well as others trapped within the capsized boat near the Ocean Beach Pier. Between 20 and 30 people were dispersed in the water.
Bernardo was removed from the boat and found unresponsive. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Fire officials confirmed some people walked up on the beach on their own while others were rescued by lifeguards.
Another suspected smuggling boat came onshore near Scripps Pier that same morning, but when lifeguards and fire personnel responded, no one was located at the scene.
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