By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON |  Associated Press Writer
11:13 PM EDT, October 3, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The brother of Congresswomen Loretta and Linda Sanchez and his girlfriend were missing Friday after their boat was apparently destroyed, possibly in a collision with a barge outside the nation’s largest port complex.

A debris field found in the ocean contained fragments from the 26-foot boat Henry Sanchez was aboard with his girlfriend, Penny Avila, the Sanchez sisters said in a statement issued in Washington.

“We pray and hope that Henry and Penny are found alive and well,” the sisters wrote.

The Coast Guard said Friday night that the boat may have collided with a barge being towed about 5 miles south of the Los Angeles harbor entrance.

The Catalina Freight Co., which owns the barge, is cooperating with investigators, said Coast Guard Ensign Stephanie Young. A message left with the Los Angeles-based freight company was not immediately returned Friday night.

Henry Sanchez, 51, and Avila, 48, both of Santa Ana, left Alamitos Bay near Long Beach late Wednesday or early Thursday en route to Santa Catalina Island and never arrived, Coast Guard Ensign Stephanie Young said.

The debris was found by a passing boater about 5 miles south of the Los Angeles harbor entrance at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, she said. A search was called off at midday Friday after covering 300 square miles.

The boat was probably destroyed in a so-called precautionary area, where northbound and southbound maritime traffic meets outside the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. It probably happened after midnight Wednesday, Young said.

“We have an indication there was a possible collision, and we’re still looking into that,” she said.

Dive teams and sonar operators looked for more debris Friday until the water got choppy. They planned to resume Saturday.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Hall said the couple were in a Bayliner pleasure boat, identified by a registration number found on a piece of fiberglass debris. Investigators were working to identify a second vessel, he said.

KABC-TV showed Coast Guard personnel bringing ashore debris including part of small metal boat, a broken ice chest, a lifejacket, wood and several toy swords. This weekend is the annual Buccaneer Days pirate-theme festival at the island village of Two Harbors.

Catalina, about 20 miles off the coast, is a popular destination for boaters.

Loretta Sanchez represents the 47th District in Orange County. Linda Sanchez represents the 39th District in Los Angeles County.

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-missing-boaters,0,4460422.story