During a fishing trip in Moss Landing, two fisherman got into a fight, and one of them ended up in the water. Following the fight, the fishing trip turned deadly. It was some hours later that his body was found.
He was recognized as Trenten Paul Black, who is 26 years old and lives in Aptos, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
Reportedly, Black got into a confrontation with another boater and began fighting near the harbor entrance, according to the detectives from the Sheriff’s Department.
Andres Rosas, a spokesman for the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, described the situation as follows: “At one point, there was a report that one person from one boat was able to board the second boat and that some kind of physical confrontation was taking place.”
One of the paddles, which may have been the same paddle that was taken as evidence by investigators while they were searching through one of the boats, was picked up by this individual at one point.
“And began assaulting the other individual at this point, we are trying to determine who was assaulting who, which individual did not go from one boat to the other,” Rosas added. “And began assaulting the other individual.”
After one of the fishermen fell into the water, a comprehensive search was launched, which included the participation of the Coast Guard and the diving team of the sheriff’s department. Kayakers also assisted in the search at this time.
“At the time, I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I asked if somebody had fallen over, and I just spent what time I had here to assist with any search that I could. I went back and forth, the slough, and up and down the jetties, but I couldn’t see anything,” said Pat Briley, a kayaker. “I was unable to see anything.”
A little before 1:30, with the assistance of sonar divers from the Coast Guard, they discovered the body of Black in water that was approximately 20 feet deep.
It is currently unknown if he was a victim of murder or whether he was acting in self-defense.
“We don’t want to speculate as to what happened; we don’t know if this was something that maybe started out in the ocean; we don’t know if there was an accident or if there was an intentional act; that is part of our investigation; we want to talk to the one person that we know was involved in this and try to get as much information from that person as possible,” Rosas said. “We don’t know if there was an accident or if there was an intentional act.”
Additionally, the individual in question has not been recognized, and according to the spokesman for the department, he has not been arrested and is not being considered a suspect at this time.
It is anticipated that the results of an autopsy that will be performed this week will reveal the reason for Black’s passing.
