The Belize Coast Guard says it has found the body of the missing fisherman, Samuel Chi, eight miles north of Belize City, one day after his companion, Albert Vaccaro, was found alive but severely hydrated at sea.
The two men had been reported missing on Sunday night while travelling from Caye Caulker to the mainland and the authorities have launched an investigation to determine whether Chi’s death had been as a result of an accident at sea or possible foul play. The operations manager at the Belize Coast Guard, Lieutenant Mark Choc, said that the body has since been handed over to the police who will continue the investigation to confirm ‘if this is something criminal or accident at sea’.
He said that the two men were is a riverine vessel designed to be operated in the river.
‘It’s not designed to be out at sea. Therefore, this is a contributing factor to more than likely causing the accident to happen. Therefore, the weather is also a factor to consider. However, the vessel itself is not seaworthy. Therefore, this is something that we are looking into that. Like I mentioned, we would definitely need to locate the vessel so it can contribute to our investigation.’
Chi’s wife, Kristy told reporters that she had earlier been in communication with her husband and that ‘he was telling me about his day, his catch, how many fishes they caught’.
But she said that ‘about 7:15 pm thereabout Belize time, the answers went unresponsive. I didn’t think much of it because he is like that.
‘However, the wife of Mr. Vaccaro contacted me about 10.00 pm, believe time, and said she concerned they have not reached as yet. Then I sounded the alarm because that is never acceptable from Samuel, I’ve been with him almost 15 years. I can tell something was wrong.’
The body was found near Hick’s Caye and Lieutenant Choc said he believes that the vessel was likely steered onto a route used to shelter from bad weather.
‘ The area that they were found is something used by smaller vessels to try to shelter from the elements or try to shelter from the weather itself,’ he said.