As of Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office has been vague about when it will release the list of names of passengers and crew, although dozens of families have been in touch with the department to learn about the fate of their loved ones.
Among the victims is Kristy Finstad, whose parents had started Worldwide Diving Adventures, the outfit that organized the Conception expedition. She was leading the dive, her brother, Brett Harmeling, wrote in a Facebook post. Finstad, 41, was a co-owner of the family-run business, which got its start in Santa Cruz in 1972. She and her husband, UCSB graduate Dan Chua, regularly led dive trips around the world. “I am alive but wish I was onboard with Kristy,” Chua wrote on Facebook. “I am crushed.”
Five members of a Stockton family were identified by a relative, Susana Rosas, on her Facebook page. Rosas said her three daughters — Evan, Nicole, and Angela Rose Quitasol — their father, Michael Quitasol, and stepmother, Fernisa Sison, were on board. “It is with a broken heart … 3 of our daughters were on this boat,” Rosas wrote. “As of now they are still missing … The authorities do not have much to say to us.”
