William Hokanson, Sr. Missing Person Case

On March 25, 1990, William "Hokey" Hokanson Sr., 44, and his 19-year-old son, William Jr., went missing during a fishing trip on their vessel, the *Sol-e-Mar*, in the Atlantic Ocean near Rhode Island. They set out from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, intending to fish off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. A brief, four-second distress call from William Jr. was received by the U.S. Coast Guard, but it was followed by a hoax call. This hoax misled the Coast Guard, causing a delay in the search effort. By the time the *Sol-e-Mar* was reported missing on March 29, it was too late to locate the men, and their vessel was later found sunken in the ocean without any sign of the Hokansons.

The Coast Guard conducted a three-day search before calling it off. Although some human remains were dredged up from the area in 1996, they could not be conclusively linked to the Hokansons through dental records. In 2014, the family officially reported them as missing in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) to facilitate ongoing efforts to identify remains through DNA comparison. Despite these efforts, the case remains unsolved, and no bodies have been recovered.

This tragedy also led to changes in maritime law. The Sol-e-Mar incident prompted the introduction of the Studds Act, which increased penalties for hoax distress calls, making it a federal crime punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Last Seen: Mar 25, 1990

Missing Person / NamUs

5509DMRI - William Hokanson

William Hokanson Jr. -- Lost Fishermen From the Port of New Bedford

DNA may hold key to identify those 'lost at sea' - fisherynation.com

5508DMRI - William Hokanson, Sr. - Doe Network