Fundraiser helps family who lost father, son in canoe accident

An online fundraiser has been set up for the family of a father and son killed in a boating accident off of Coyote Point in San Mateo County.

Guillermo Ruvalcaba-Sandoval, 49, and Luis Ruvalcaba, 22, were killed after their canoe capsized last week. A GoFundMe page for their family was created on Saturday and had garnered $1,840 as of this afternoon.

A third person in the canoe, 22-year-old Larissa Castaneda, was Luis’ fiancé and the only survivor in the accident, according to the GoFundMe page.

Around 10:20 p.m. on Feb. 16, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a report of three people who had left the shore of Oyster Point and had not returned, Coast Guard officials said.

The trio had gone out fishing in a 12-foot orange canoe and their vehicle was still parked at the Oyster Point Marina that night, according to Coast Guard officials.

Coast Guard crews searched for the people by boat and helicopter.

A South San Francisco fire boat crew also assisted in the search and at about 1:20 a.m. the next day, they heard a cry about a mile off the coast and found a woman who they pulled out the water, according to the Coast Guard.

The GoFundMe page identified her as Casteneda.

She was taken to a hospital where she was conscious and responsive, Coast Guard officials said.

About 30 minutes later, crews found a man later identified as Ruvalcaba-Sandoval, who was unconscious and unresponsive, Coast Guard officials said.

He was transported to Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame and later pronounced dead, according to the Coast Guard.

Later that morning around 8:50 a.m., 22-year-old Ruvalcaba was found in the water south of Coyote Point, Coast Guard officials said.

Luis Ruvalcaba was a member of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office’s explorer program in which he volunteered with the search and rescue unit from 2011 to 2013, according to the GoFundMe page.

He graduated in the 73rd law enforcement explorer academy and served as class president.

He will be buried in his explorer uniform, a post on the fundraiser page says.

Luis was a student at San Francisco State University where he was set to graduate in May with a bachelor of art’s degree in criminal justice studies, the fundraising page states.

A funeral mass for the men was scheduled for this morning in Colma.