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Fisherman is found dead
Victim said to be 4th ocean/beach drowning victim this year
A view of the ocean from the Gov. Eloy S. Inos Peace Park in Puerto Rico, Saipan, where a 26-year-old man went missing after fishing west of the park early Saturday morning. He was later found dead. (Ferdie de la Torre)
A 26-year-old man who went fishing with a companion in the waters near the Gov. Eloy S. Inos Peace Park in Puerto Rico early Saturday morning was later found dead. He is believed to have drowned.
The victim, an indigenous male, was pronounced dead by Dr. Florence Shenker at the Commonwealth Health Center’s emergency room Saturday at 1:55am.
Acting Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Jason Tarkong withheld the victim’s name pending notification of the next of kin.
Tarkong said yesterday that police responded to the peace park last Friday at 10pm after receiving a call about a missing fisherman.
Tarkong said police met with witnesses and learned that the missing fisherman started fishing with another local male that day at 8pm in the ocean west of the park.
Later that night, the partner could not locate the victim so he swam to shore and asked for help.
After police were contacted, DPS Boating Safety Unit launched its Zodiac II rescue boat, which found the victim’s body floating near the park Saturday at 1:31am.
The victim’s body was then brought to CHC. It was not immediately known if there will be an autopsy on his body.
He is reportedly the fourth drowning victim in the CNMI ocean/beach this year.
Last June 13, a 15-year-old Korean male student reportedly drowned while spearfishing at Sugar Dock in Chalan Kanoa.
Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services and DPS Boating Section Unit personnel found the boy’s body floating in the channel late afternoon that day.
Last May 4, a 71-year-old Korean man drowned while swimming at the beach of Kensington Hotel in San Roque, while a 50-year-old Japanese man also drowned while scuba diving at Laulau Bay.
Last Jan. 26, 53-year-old Isidro Wabol, a Carolinian man who had gone swimming, was later found dead outside the reef at Sugar Dock in Chalan Kanoa.
