The names were released of nine of the 34 people who died during the intense, sudden blaze that consumed the Conception dive boat off the coast of Santa Cruz Island early Monday morning; two were from Santa Barbara County. The rest hailed from all over the state and country, but most came from Northern California. Those named are: Raymond "Scott" Chan, 59, Los Altos; Justin Carroll Dignam, 58, Anaheim; Daniel Garcia, 46, Berkeley; Marybeth Guiney, 51 Santa Monica; Yulia Krashennaya, 40, Berkeley; Alexandra Kurtz, 26, Santa Barbara; Caroline McLaughlin, 35, Oakland; Ted Strom, 62, Germantown, Tennessee; and Wei Tan, 26, Goleta.
Since the morning's announcements of the names of victims in the Conception tragedy, the Sheriff's Office released 13 more names, stating that the families had been notified. The 13 are: Kendra Chan, 26, Oxnard; Angela Rose Quitasol, 28, Stockton; Evan Michel Quitasol, 37, Stockton; Nicole Storm Quitasol, 31, Imperial Beach; Michael Quitasol, 62, Stockton; Carol Diana Adamic, 60, Santa Cruz; Andrew Fritz, 40, Sacramento; Charles McIlvain, 44, Santa Monica; Steven Salika, 55, Santa Cruz; Tia Salika-Adamic, 17, Santa Cruz; Neal Gustav Baltz, 42, Phoenix, Arizona; Patricia Ann Beitzinger, 48, Chandler, Arizona; and Vaidehi Campbell, 41, Felton, California. In all, 23 of the 33 recovered victims have been identified. As well, the Coast Guard reports it has suspended salvage work for wind, current, and safety reasons. (Update: Sept. 6, 2019, 5 p.m.)
According to Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown this morning, the remains of 18 of the victims have now been identified thanks to accelerated DNA testing most recently deployed by Sacramento County in response to last year’s Camp Fire, which claimed 85 lives. He credited the Sacramento Coroner’s Office — as well as the private company that helped develop the new technology — for coming to Santa Barbara’s assistance.