Nelo George Marciel, a 55-year-old crewman from San Diego, was last seen on March 22, 1990, aboard the 162-foot fishing trawler Aleutian Enterprise, which capsized and sank about 60 miles south of St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea. The ship went down at approximately 1:30 p.m. while hauling a large catch; a broken net dumped a massive volume of fish onto the deck, the vessel listed to port, and water flooded the processing deck through side openings. The Aleutian Enterprise sank within minutes in roughly 400 feet of water.

Twenty-two of the 31 crew were rescued by nearby fishing vessels; Marciel was one of nine crew members not found and now presumed dead. U.S. Coast Guard and NTSB investigations identified multiple safety failures: the vessel lacked watertight closures on processing openings, survival gear was often inaccessible, abandon-ship drills were improper, and the captain and company were faulted for shortcomings in training, procedures, and response. Families later pursued legal claims seeking damages.