In the dim hours before sunrise on Humboldt Bay in 1999, a fishing boat named the Silver Spray faced a devastating incident. An 18-foot wave severely struck the boat, ripping off its top and throwing the four crew members into the dark waters. Skipper Al Burns recounted the harrowing moments when the 35-foot vessel sank, somersaulting underwater. One crew member remained missing.
On December 14, 1999, Jonathan Raxa, the boat’s owner, was lost to the sea amid the violent waves. The tragedy closed a chapter for Raxa, who was a 37-year-old father of three. He had boosted his crab fishing efforts to fund a missionary trip to Laos before the accident. However, Humboldt Bay’s winter seas proved unforgiving, especially as crab season begun.
Commercial fishing poses severe risks. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights hazards such as vessel incidents and falls overboard. The field had a fatality rate over 28 times the national average between 2000 and 2017.
Years passed with no trace of Raxa’s remains, until March 2026, when a bone surfaced on Centerville Beach, approximately 20 miles from the accident site. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office identified it as a human sacrum. It was processed through a state Department of Justice DNA database.
The DNA matched Raxa’s son’s sample collected three decades earlier. This discovery brought a measure of closure to Raxa’s family. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement emphasizing the critical role of preserved DNA samples in resolving long-standing missing person cases. They can provide families with answers, even after many years.