Steven Esparza was 26 and working aboard the 50-foot fishing vessel F/V Ocean Challenger when the boat capsized about 85 miles southeast of Cold Bay, Alaska, on October 18, 2006. Conditions were extreme: winds near 50 knots, waves up to 30 feet, and water temperature about 45 degrees. The crew deployed a life raft but none of the four men got into it; all were thrown into the sea.

A nearby car carrier, the M/V Overseas Joyce, witnessed the overturn and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. A massive search involving a helicopter, a C-130 and the cutter Munro covered roughly 1,730 square miles over 46 hours. One crewman, Kevin Ferrell, survived in a survival suit; the bodies of skipper David Cowboy Hasselquist and crewman Walter Foster were recovered. Steven Esparza, reportedly not wearing a survival suit, was never found and the search was called off the evening of October 19, 2006.

Does anyone have information about Steven Esparza or recollections from the Ocean Challenger’s final voyage that could help complete the record?