STURT, Ryder

Cave where a body was found, Santa Cruz Island, November 2022

STURT, Ryder (c. 1986-2020), 34, of Port Hueneme, disappeared while diving for lobsters near Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island on Monday, November 30, 2020. He was with a friend aboard a 20-foot recreational boat. His body was found two years later.

In the News~

November 30, 2020 [Noozhawk]: “After a day-long effort on Monday, searchers were unable to locate a Port Hueneme man who disappeared the day before while scuba diving near Santa Cruz Island. Ryder Sturt, 34, was tank diving for lobster off a 20-foot recreational boat on Sunday afternoon when he failed to surface, said Raquel Zick, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. "When the dive partner surfaced and Sturt did not, the dive partner radioed for help," Zick said. The incident occurred near the Painted Cave Preserve, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Alex Gray. The Coast Guard responded at about 6:45 p.m. Sunday with the cutter Narwal, along with a helicopter, and searched for Sturt throughout the night. On Monday, the county's new Firehawk helicopter joined the search, Zick said, along with the Sheriff's Office's Underwater Search and Recovery Team. The divers combed the water for about three hours, but were unable to locate Sturt before darkness fell, Zick said. "The search for the missing diver will continue tomorrow," she added. The Sherff's Office will take the lead in what has transitioned to a search-and-recovery operation, Zick said. Additional agencies will be responding to assist, she said, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dive Team, the Los Angeles Port Police, and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team.The Coast Guard will provide a perimeter safety zone patrol for the divers.”

November 30, 2020 [edhat.com]: “The Sheriff’s Office has taken lead in the search for a missing diver near Santa Cruz Island. At approximately 6:45 p.m. yesterday, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) responded to the Painted Cave Preserve to search for a diver who had not surfaced. The diver, 34-year-old Ryder Sturt of Port Hueneme, and a dive partner had been tank diving for lobster off of a 20-foot recreational boat in the area. When the dive partner surfaced and Sturt did not, the dive partner radioed for help. The USCG Cutter Narwal responded to the request for assistance and searched the waters off Santa Cruz Island overnight while FOB Mug searched from the air. Today, the USCG continued their search with additional vessel and air resources including Santa Barbara County Air Support Copter 964 on its first operational mission. Copter 964 conducted an aerial search for the missing diver and provided medical support for the search divers. The USCG requested the assistance of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Underwater Search and Recovery Team who responded to the area and began dives at 1:30 p.m. today. Sheriff’s divers searched the waters for approximately three hours, but were unable to locate the missing diver. At approximately 5:00 p.m., rescue efforts were suspended and command was transferred to the Sheriff’s Office for search and recovery. The search for the missing diver will continue tomorrow. Additional agencies will be responding to assist with the search including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dive Team, Los Angeles Port Police, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, and the USCG who will provide perimeter safety zone patrol for the divers. This incident does not appear suspicious in nature.

November 30, 2020 [KEYT]: “Coast Guard, SB Sheriff search for missing diver off Santa Cruz Island. SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, Calif. - Crews with the Coast Guard and Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office are working on an ongoing search and rescue mission for a diver who went missing Sunday evening. The Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach received a report of the missing diver around 6:45 p.m. Sunday. The diver, identified as 34-year-old Ryder Sturt of Port Hueneme, had reportedly been with a partner tank diving for lobster off of a 20-foot recreational boat but never came back up to the water's surface after going down. The two had been diving in the Painted Cave Preserve area of Santa Cruz Island at the time of the incident. The Coast Guard responded their USCG Cutter Narwal while the FOB Mug searched from the air. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office sent a dive team and Air Support Copter 964 to assist with the search. Sheriff’s divers searched the waters for about three hours but were unable to locate the missing diver. Around 5 p.m., rescue efforts were temporarily halted and command of the mission was transferred from the Coast Guard to the sheriff’s office as a search and recovery. The sheriff's office said the search and recovery will continue on Tuesday. Additional agencies will be responding to assist with the search including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dive Team, Los Angeles Port Police, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team and the US Coast Guard who will provide perimeter safety zone patrol for the divers. At this time, the incident does not appear suspicious.”

December 3, 2020 [KEYT]: “ SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - The search for a diver who was reported missing off the coast of Santa Cruz Island earlier this week continues, days after the diver was first reported missing. On Thursday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Raquel Zick said divers were unable to search the water due to poor diving conditions. The poor conditions kept divers from searching the water on Wednesday as well. Zick said that despite the lack of divers, the search continued from the air. The sheriff's office and the United States Coast Guard received a report of the missing diver around 6:45 p.m. Sunday. The diver has been identified as 31-year-old Ryder Sturt of Port Hueneme. Sturt was with a partner tank diving for lobster but his partner said he never came back up to the water's surface. The two had been diving in the Painted Cave Preserve area of Santa Cruz Island at the time of the incident.”

December 7, 2020 [noozhawk.com]: “ More than a week after a Port Hueneme man disappeared while scuba diving near Santa Cruz Island, his remains have not been located and recovered, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said on Monday. Ryder Sturt, 34, was tank diving for lobster with a partner off a 20-foot recreational boat near the Painted Cave Preserve on Nov. 29 when he failed to surface. The dive partner radioed for help, and the U.S. Coast responded to the distress call that evening with a cutter and a helicopter, searching for Sturt through the night without success. The next two days, the sheriff's Underwater Search and Recovery Team joined the effort — with the assistance of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dive Team, the Los Angeles Port Police, and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team — but Sturt was not found. Since then, rough ocean conditions have prevented the divers from getting back in the water to resume the search, said Raquel Zick, sheriff's public information officer. "Conditions in the ocean have not improved," Zick told Noozhawk on Monday afternoon. The search has continued by air with a county helicopter, Zick said. "Because we can't get in the water, the air is the only option right now," she added.”

November 14, 2022 [usnews.com]: “SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A body that was found this month in an underwater cave in Southern California may be that of a scuba diver who vanished two years ago, authorities said Monday.The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, working with divers from other agencies, recovered the remains Saturday, a week after it was notified that two

recreational divers had discovered a possible body near the ocean floor in a cave system on Santa Cruz Island. “The location of the recovery corresponds to a missing diver investigation from 2020,” a Sheriff’s Office statement said. Ryder Sturt, 34, of Port Hueneme, reportedly was diving for lobster with a partner on Nov. 29, 2020, in the Painted Cave Preserve area of the central California coastal island and never surfaced, authorities have said. Coroner's investigators will use rapid DNA testing to confirm the identity of the body, and the determination could be completed next week, the Sheriff's Office said.”

November 14, 2022 [KCLU]: “DNA testing underway to see if remains might be those of man who disappeared off of Santa Cruz Island in November of 2020. Authorities think they may have solved the mystery of the disappearance of a diver in the Channel Islands nearly two years ago. In November of 2020, two divers were fishing for lobster off of Santa Cruz Island. When one failed to return to the surface, the other called the Coast Guard for help. But, an extensive air and sea search failed to turn up any sign of Ryder Sturt. On November 5th of this month, some recreational divers spotted what they thought might be a body in some underwater caves at the island. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Underwater Search and Rescue Team reached out to LA and San Luis Obispo County teams for help. The body was recovered this week. The Ventura County Coroner’s Bureau is now using DNA testing to try to see if the remains recovered are those of the missing diver, or perhaps someone else.”

December 7, 2022 [Independent]: “Santa Barbara Coroner Identifies Deceased Diver as Missing Ventura County Man Ryder Sturt, 34, of Port Hueneme Failed to Surface While Tank Diving Off Santa Cruz Island in 2020. The body of a deceased diver recovered off Santa Cruz Island this November has been identified as a Ventura County man who went missing in the area two years ago. The Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Bureau has confirmed that the decedent is 34-year-old Ryder Sturt of Port Hueneme. Sturt was declared missing after he failed to surface while tank diving for lobster with a partner near Painted Cave on November 29, 2020. A search of the area conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and Coast Guard at the time was unsuccessful. Then this November 5, two recreational divers exploring a nearby underwater cave system discovered the remains of a deceased diver and notified the Sheriff’s Office, who recovered the body near Seal Cove on November 11 in coordination with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office Marine Enforcement Unit, and the National Park Service. The diver’s body was transported to the Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau for further investigation, and coroner’s detectives used rapid DNA to positively identity the deceased diver as Sturt. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Raquel Zick noted at the time of Sturt’s disappearance that the “incident does not appear suspicious in nature.”