Petaluma Man Identified As Missing Fisherman

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin County officials announced Thursday of the discovery of a man's body who went missing on Christmas Day after he headed out into San Pablo Bay for a day of fishing.

William Hady Chebib, 32, from Petaluma, launched his fishing boat at approximately 8 a.m. Dec. 25 from the Black Point Boat Launch in Novato to do some fishing near China Camp State Park.

At 3:30 p.m., Chebib contacted his family to say that he was about to return to the boat launch, but he never arrived.

Chebib's boat was discovered on Dec. 26 near Point San Pablom but he was not on board, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

An intensive search was orchestrated with multiple agencies and first responders, including the U.S. Coast Guard. Chebib was never located and the search was suspended.

At approximately 10 a.m. Thursday, Chebib's remains were found by a volunteer aquatic search group, the California Recovery Divers, according to sheriff's officials. The Recovery Divers had been looking for Chebib on multiple occasions since his disappearance. He was located one mile east of the Hamilton Wetlands within the San Pablo Bay.

A medical examiner will be examining Chebib on Friday to determine the cause and manner of his death, a sheriff's spokesperson said. Until then, no further information is being released.

The Marin County Sheriff's Office, on its Facebook page, expressed its condolences to Chebib's family and friends and "heartfelt gratitude" to the searchers who brought him back to his family.

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