Benson Van Nguyen

• Missing Since 02/21/2009
• Missing From San Mateo County, California
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Asian
• Date of Birth 07/15/1961 (62)
• Age 47 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8, 160 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A yellow/orange rain jacket and pants.
• Associated Vehicle(s) 36-foot crab fishing boat called the Della C (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Asian male. Black hair, brown eyes. Nguyen is of Vietnamese descent.

Details of Disappearance

Nguyen was last seen in San Mateo County, California on February 21, 2009. He worked as a commercial fisherman. He and two friends left Moss Landing in a 36-foot vessel, the Della C, to go crab fishing. The boat was about four miles west of Point Ano Nuevo when a rogue wave overturned it.

Nguyen's friends made it to a life raft. They threw a crab pot towards him, hoping to drag him to safety, but he disappeared in the water. His friends were rescued two hours later and had to be treated for hypothermia.

An extensive search of the ocean turned up no sign of Nguyen or his remains. He is presumed to have drowned. He left behind a wife and three children.