California fisherman's 26-year sea mystery is solved after a human pelvic bone washes up on a beach

From the Newshound archive · first published 20 September 2026.

A pelvic bone found on Centerville Beach in Northern California in March has been confirmed by DNA analysis to belong to Jonathan Raxa, a father of three who vanished into the sea on 14 December 1999. Raxa, who was 37 at the time, disappeared after an 18-foot wave stripped the pilothouse off his commercial fishing boat, the Silver Spray, near the mouth of Humboldt Bay. The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office sent the bone to the California Department of Justice, whose DNA profile matched family samples. The confirmation was announced last Wednesday, ending a 26-year mystery for Raxa's family.

The Silver Spray's skipper, Al Burns, said he watched the water engulf his crew members before a second wave swept him away, leaving him clinging to a five-gallon oil can.