Posted by on January 23, 2005 at 09:43:33:
Sunday, January 23, 2005 -
After more than a month of search and rescue efforts, the body of a missing abalone diver was found at Pebble Beach in Del Norte County, some 200 miles north of where he was last seen.
William Krupski, 56, of San Francisco, disappeared while abalone diving with his wife, Ann, Nov. 27 at Van Damme State Park near Mendocino.
The couple were separated after losing their float tubes in rough water, and Ann Krupski made it to shore but her husband did not.
A body that fit the general description of Krupski was discovered on shore at Pebble Beach Jan. 11 but identification could not be made at that time, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
According to the MCSO, Mendocino County Search and Rescue, Mendocino Fire Department, Fish and Game, U.S. Coast Guard, State Parks and other individuals assisted in the long search.
On Friday, Del Norte County notified the MCSO that positive identification was made by a thumbprint of the decedent, according to a press release. Krupski was a vascular surgeon at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center.
"The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office would like to thank the various agencies and volunteers in helping to search over a long time period," the press release states. "Literally hundreds of man hours were donated, along with the equipment support in trying to bring this to a conclusion."