Boater reported he was adrift, then vanished, CA cops say. His remains identified
Remains found on a beach have been identified as those of a missing boater who reported being adrift, California police say.
A bone found in 2023 was confirmed to belong to Mark Paulson, who was reported missing in January 2021, the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department said in a June 18 news release shared on Facebook.
Paulson called 911 to say “his boat was adrift near Torrance,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a Jan. 19, 2021, post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Paulson said his boat was having engine trouble, and he was worried “about being blown out to sea;” it was the last time he was heard from, according to police.
“The weather that day was exceptionally rough,” Harbor Patrol boat captain Dave Lorenson told Easy Reader News in 2021.
Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Harbor Patrol and Los Angeles County Lifeguards, searched for Paulson, police said.
While his overturned boat was found, Paulson remained missing, police said.
Two years after Paulson’s disappearance, a human femur bone was found on the shoreline, police said in a 2023 news release shared to Facebook.
Using DNA matching, police said the bone was identified as belonging to Paulson, who “would have been 68 years old.”
Given the circumstances, foul play is not suspected in his death, police said.
A GoFundMe described Paulson as “funny and so full of life.”
“Growing up as a surfer and a swimmer, he was born and raised in the South Bay with the ocean being one of his favorite and most familiar places,” the GoFundMe said.
He is survived by his wife and daughter, according to the GoFundMe.
Palos Verdes Estates is about a 30-mile drive southwest from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Boater reported he was adrift, then vanished, CA cops say. His remains identified."
