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Man drowns at Garapan Fishing Base
On Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, at about 12:39pm, the CNMI Department of Public Safety received a 911 call reporting an overdue swimmer at the Garapan Fishing Base. DPS patrol and Boating Safety units arrived at the Garapan Fishing Base at about 12:45pm. Police met with the caller who stated that one of his friends went out fishing and has not returned since 11am. Shortly after meeting with the caller, a boat made its way into the dock with the victim onboard.
Police learned from a second friend of the victim that he and the victim had gone fishing around 11am and that he told the victim to follow him but the victim refused and chose to go another route. As he was swimming out, he looked back and saw the victim paddling out with a paddleboard. After about an hour of spearfishing, he noticed the paddleboard floating outside the reef line. A boat returning to shore bought the paddleboard in, thinking it had drifted out. The individual asked the captain of the boat if they noticed any individual near the paddleboard. The captain and crew responded that they only noticed the paddleboard with no one near it.
The individual then took the paddleboard and began circling the area where he last saw the paddleboard floating, when he noticed the victim floating face down in the water with his snorkel mask still on. The individual flagged a passing boat who assisted the individual to bring the victim to shore where medics and units were on standby.
At about 1:04pm, medics transported the victim to the Commonwealth Health Center, where Dr. Alex Pulst-Korenberg pronounced the victim dead at about 1:17pm. (PR)
