By Kevin Tripp, KABC
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown says they have a better idea what likely killed those 34 people.
”So, the cause of death – the preliminary indications are that the cause of death was smoke inhalation.”
The sheriff, who is also the coroner, says the bodies show signs of being burned after death. He says 18 of the victims have been identified using a rapid DNA testing system. The sheriff has released nine of those names. They include people from Northern and Southern California. Coast Guard officials say the boat was required to have a night watchman. However, there is no indication that anyone was awake and monitoring the boat when it caught fire.