Foul Play Investigated in Seaman’s Disappearance

NEWPORT BEACH —  As the Coast Guard continued to search Tuesday for a missing Newport Beach fisherman, authorities said they are looking into the possibility of foul play.

After finding debris believed to be from Ken Philipps’ boat about 140 miles southwest of San Diego, Coast Guard investigators said they are puzzled how the vessel, which left Newport Beach headed for Catalina, could have drifted so far south.

“There’s some critical pieces of the puzzle that are missing,” Coast Guard Lt. Dan Deptula said. “We’re looking into all possibilities.”

Philipps, a familiar face on the Balboa Peninsula waterfront, was last seen Easter morning as he set sail in his 38-foot wooden boat, the Nancy L.

Friends reported him missing three days later, prompting a massive Coast Guard search over 18,000 square miles of ocean from Point Dume to Ensenada.

Authorities had called off the search last week but resumed it Monday after detecting a signal from an emergency radio beacon registered to the Nancy L, Deptula said.

Investigators are puzzled because the beacon on the Nancy L was silent for so long after Philipps’ disappearance. One possibility is that the fisherman was washed overboard and his boat drifted for several days before sinking, authorities said.