The missing men are 48-year-old Darrington Escobar, 50-year-old Mauro Ismael Quiroz, his son, 31-year-old Abner Quiroz, 50-year-old Magistrate Richard Swift, 53-year-old Nick Egbert Nicholson, 42-year-old Gustavo Briceno, and 25-year-old Elon Reyes.This morning 7NEWS joined the search with the Belize Coast Guard. Here’s what the effort from the sea looked like.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
This is the area where the made their last known contact to relatives disclosing their location behind St. George’s Caye in this prime fishing area. Today aboard this Coast Guard vessel, as the swells whipped up in the wake, it was rough; there were eight 10 foot waves caused by 18 to 20 knot winds. On Sunday, the waves would have been higher because of 25 knot winds on that day – far more treacherous on a much smaller vessel like the Ocean Hopper.
Jules Vasquez,
On that day would have been experiencing seas like this?
Lt. Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard
“Seas like or a little bit worse because they were in a smaller boat also.”
And for the third day in succession, the coast guard has been out, using binoculars and GPS devices trying to find where these men could be by re-tracing the track from their last known location.
Lt. Elton Bennett,
“We heard that they were fishing somewhere off St. George’s Caye. What we are doing now is coming out in the channel, using our vessel as a reference – shutting the engine and to see the drift that was occurring during that day.”
And under the north wind we drifted south and that took us here, just south of Gallows Point.
Lt. Elton Bennett,
“The drift for those type of vessels with this weather condition would be consistent and we do believe that as we found, as we proved the drift, the drift theory from where they were from last known position towards this area
here. We’re just about 200 meters off from where the vessel was found and this is about two miles south of Gallows Point.”
And that’s where the Ocean Hopper was found yesterday – exactly in this area. It was half submerged, and had been stripped of its 50 hp outboard motor, navigation equipment and its canopy. The only thing that hadn’t been taken was this Ziploc bag with cell phones and wallets. This area denoted within this blue border on the map has been defined as the target area where the search is being concentrated.
Lt. Elton Bennett,
“We’ve identified this area as the primary search area and have concentrated most efforts in this area and we’ve found the vessel and some debris, seats and life jackets, from off the boat in this area. Everything was channeled in towards this bay area and hence the reason why we are concentrating inside this area mainly.”
And much attention is being paid to the islets and inlets area in the Drowned Caye Range.
Lt. Elton Bennett,
“Drowned Cayes is very popular for many many creeks and lagoon and it is an area that will take a whole day to search all of those lagoons and creeks.”
And while we were in a Coast Guard vessel, there were many other civilian vessels searching, searching searching…all fruitlessly.
Dylan Jones, Friend
“We’ve done combing this morning, literally meter by meter, myself and my friends, and we’ve come up with nothing. Just searching until space ran out literally. No sign, no sign of anybody. Its just disheartening but we will remain optimistic and do what we got to do until such time, as friends.”
And there were so many like that out today – in dive boats, planes, and private boats. It’s an exhaustive and comprehensive search, and while hope is fading, it is not lost.
Lt. Elton Bennett,
“We are looking for survivors. We still believe that there is a chance of finding life at sea. We’ve had experience where we’ve found life at sea four to five days after people have drifted outside the reef. We still believe there is a chance of finding life somewhere in this area.”
So was it an accident or a criminal act? At this point it appears that sea pirates looted the vessel but that may have happened after the 7 either abandoned or were forced to abandon the Ocean Hopper for still unknown reasons. Head of CIB Superintendent Aaron Guzman says they still cannot say if it is a criminal case because they have found no evidence pointing to that. As to what happened with the boat, Guzman also declined to comment on that with any certainty. He says tests are being conducted to see how or under what circumstances the engine was removed.
