Search warrants served on Santa Barbara diving boat company
September 8, 2019
Law enforcement agents searched the Santa Barbara office and two diving boats on Sunday belonging to the company that owned the Conception, the boat destroyed in a fire that killed 34 people last week.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and ATF, searched Truth Aquatics’ office in Santa Barbara and the company’s two remaining boats as part of an ongoing investigation, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Lt. Erik Raney said. Truth Aquatics operates water and scuba diving excursions.
More than a dozen agents took photos and removed boxes of evidence from the office and the two boats.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. They appear to be focused on storage of electronics, adequate escape hatches, and whether the crew members were properly trained.
Last week, searchers recovered the bodies of 33 of the 34 people who died after the boat caught fire off the Channel Islands Monday morning.
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