Community Corner

Missing Fisherman's Tackle Box Found

Mandi Lee-Han says the box gives her hope as the search continues for her father and six others lost at sea since a July shipwreck.

It's been more than a month since Mandi Lee-Han's father disappeared with six others when their fishing boat sunk off the coast of Mexico.

But she found new hope recently when Mexican fishermen recovered Don Lee's tackle box off the coast of San Felipe, near where The Erik capsized during a sudden storm July 3.

It's an unlikely find. The Sea of Cortez is 700,000 square miles. And the Mexican and U.S. governments have spent five weeks scouring the gulf for signs of Lee and the others with no success.

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"The box, it's a little bit of him," Lee-Han said. "To get it in the manner we got it is dad's way of saying, 'don't give up hope.'"

Lee, a longtime San Ramon resident, was an avid sportfisher. He owned several tackle boxes. This was one of his oldest, one his brother gave him for his birthday 15 years ago, Lee-Han said. Lee's brother was the one who introduced him to fishing.

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When the fishermen opened it up, they found the birthday card from years ago.

"It was still there, it's unbelievable," Lee-Han said. "This was obviously very special to him."

Now, it's taken on special meaning to Lee-Han and her family, too. Especially since it was through the kindness of strangers that it reached them.

Fishermen pulled up the box in their nets two weeks ago and recognized Lee's name from news reports. Then, they brought it to the caretaker of a house in San Felipe owned by Pleasanton resident Mike Fuller.

Fuller reached out to the Lee family through the www.findourfathers.org, where the fishermen's families have posted updates about the search over the past month.

The tackle box, the public's support and the regular media attention are the few things that strengthen her, said Lee-Han, whose grandmother died four days after the boating accident.

"It's been a struggle, it's very lonely, this process is very lonely … the outpouring of love from the community is what’s keeping us going," she said. “We feel extremely frustrated by the entire situation and getting this tackle box was a very symbolic."

It's also a practical clue. If the fishermen who found it could exactly identify where it was, that could aid in the search, providing the Mexican Navy cooperates with private help offered by families of the missing men.

Lee and six other Bay Area men were on a July Fourth weekend vacation when tragedy struck. Dozens of others onboard were rescued. The ones who haven't been found are: Lee, Russell Bautista, Shawn Chaddock, Mark Dorland, Gene J. Leong, Al Mein and Brian Wong.

The lack of closure for the families of the missing men has taken a financial as well as emotional toll on the families. Some of those men are retirees whose wives can't access their retirement savings until they have a death certificate, Lee-Han said.

"This has changed the lives of so many people," she said. "That's why we want to keep reminding everyone that this isn't over, we're still searching."

Join the Find Our Fathers Facebook page for updates, including upcoming fund-raisers.


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