SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Hundreds of people gathered near the Oceanside Harbor jetty Saturday morning to pay tribute to a fisherman who vanished while on a boating trip Monday.
Family and friends of 52-year-old Loren Ruden were hoping to have closure when they paid tribute to him yards away from the ocean he loved.
In a ceremony filled with plenty of tears and lots of laughter, family and friends of Loren Ruden stood in the Oceanside sand to remember the man who simply enjoyed life.
The married father of three has been missing since Monday following an ill-fated fishing trip with his border collie Sadie, who swam to shore and was picked up by strangers, who used the dog's tag information to contact Ruden's wife Susan.
A search for Ruden involved several agencies and covered more than 2100 nautical miles along the San Diego county coastline.
While his boat "Lucky Dog" was found off La Jolla, there has been no sign of the man who was known to give anyone time, including one of his long time neighbors.
At the memorial, which was called "Loren-ensue" with attendees in casual dress and wearing flip flops, one of his two daughters tearfully spoke about her father embraced the outdoors.
To show their support for the search effort, people signed a poster board which will be presented to the Coast Guard. Family members were touched by the love shown to Loren.
The search for Loren was suspended Wednesday.
At one point, the FBI was involved in the search because Ruden's case involved a U.S. owned ship that departed from U.S. soil with a U.S. citizen on board.