It’s been four days and counting since seven men went missing at sea after a one-day fishing expedition to St. George’s Caye, an island located about 9 miles east of Belize City.
On Sunday, November 4, sometime around 9:00 a.m. seven good friends left for a fishing trip from Belama Phase I.
The seven men included Derrington Escobar, 48, a businessman of #1Poinsettia Street; Mauro Ismael Quiroz, 50, a businessman of #294 Guzman Crescent, Phase I Belama Extension; Magistrate Richard Swift, 50, of #2514 Waha Street in the Belama Phase I area; Abner Quiroz (son of Mauro Ismael Quiroz), 31, a rental agent of Avis who lives on Sarstoon Street, Belize City; Nick Egbert Nicholson, 53, an accountant at the Radisson Fort George Hotel and resident of #6204 Park Avenue, Buttonwood Bay; Gustavo Briceño, a computer technician of #5717 Lizarraga Avenue, Kings Park; and Elon Reyes, 25, a construction worker of #6276 Pike Crescent in Buttonwood Bay.
The seven men left for the trip in Quiroz’s 25-foot skiff, The Ocean Hopper.
A search team comprised of soldiers from the BDF, the Police, Belize Coast Guard personnel and relatives, among the group many experienced seamen such as Alfonso Aldana, Cpt. Borland, and certified dive masters and captains, has been working day and night to find the men.
The search team began on Monday morning, and so far they have combed the general vicinity of St. George’s Caye. They have extended their search to the entire Belize Barrier Reef, and they have searched areas such as Big Cay Bake; Grand Point; Southern Long Cay; Rendezvous Cay; Stake Bank Cay; Drowned Cay; Snake Point; Grand Bogue Creek and Little Joe’s Hole.
Last night a candlelight vigil was held for the men, and prayers were said to help them come home safely.
But tonight the search team is planning to prepare relatives and friends for the worst.
Time is of the essence, said the spokesperson for the families of the missing men, Audrey Matura Shepherd, who has been speaking to the media and keeping the country updated on the efforts of the search team.
According to Shepherd, yesterday a green cooler and some life jackets were recovered around Sergeant’s Caye, which is located 12-13 miles from the city. That discovery came after they had located the The Ocean Hopper at Gallows Point on Tuesday around 11:30 a.m.
Because of the condition of the boat, authorities are almost certain that the men were involved in a serious accident. When the boat was found, it appeared that its engine, a 50 horsepower Mercury, had been ripped off. The boat’s canopy was not intact. Although the boat itself did not suffer major damage to its hull, investigators believe that the boat may have crashed into the reef or a rock which could have caused the ripping off of the outboard motor.
It is also their belief that all the men were thrown overboard because of the impact.
At first it was believed that the last time anyone heard from any of the men was sometime around 11:30 that Sunday morning, 2 ½ hours after they had left the city. Derrington Escobar had spoken to his daughter, saying that they were at the island and were about to go fishing.
According to Mrs. Edelma Quiroz, 29, however, on Sunday evening about 5:30 she called Abner, her husband. Their conversation was brief, but when she called she thought that he was in the city and wanted him to pick up her mother. He only told her he was with his father and Mr. Escobar, and that he was alright. According to her, he did not mention that he was out at sea. He asked her if she was alright.
She said she told him that everything was OK, and then the conversation ended.
When she had not heard from him by phone and he still had not returned home by 9:00 p.m., she called him once more.
According to Edelma, she only got his voice mail. She was frightened, but did not panic.
She was worried, but not too worried until the following morning when she learned that her husband had gone on a fishing trip with six others.
On Sunday morning when Abner left home, he told his wife he was going to work at the Avis Car Rental office at the International Airport in Ladyville.
When he did not come home and the next morning, Monday, she found out that he had gone on a fishing trip with his friends, she was shocked.
It seemed, then, that whatever happened to the men happened to them after 5:30 that Sunday evening.
According to Shepherd, the men were also spotted by a waitress of a lodge in the area of St. George’s Caye. She told them that at about 1:30 p.m. she saw the boat with people on board.
Then at around 5:30 p.m. she saw the same boat again in the area.
(Ed. NOTE: Police Press Officer, G. Michael Reid, said on LOVE TV tonight with reference to the above disappearance, “Obviously, all evidence points to an accident.” No one wants to discuss the possibility of some kind of foul play (such as kidnapping) in this matter, because no one wants to discourage the search teams. But some years ago, an English Caye watchman, Charles Garbutt, disappeared similarly with his common-law wife and children between Belize City and English Caye, which is about 12 miles southeast of the old capital. None of the Garbutt party was ever found.)