<p>More than a week after they left to go fishing and never returned, the search continues for four missing fishermen. On Monday the body of 49 year old Thomas Young was found in the waters of Southern Belize. Young went along with 26 year old Darwin Gentle, 24 year old Elgin Graham, 34 year old Sergio Flores and 26 year old Kenrick Chi. The last contact that was made between the fishermen and their families was on Saturday. Operations Officer for the Belize National Coast Guard Service, Lieutenant Gregory Soberanis, says that so far, there have been no other clues.</p>
<p><b><i>LT. GREGORY SOBERANIS</i></b></p>
<p><b><i>“We have been aggressively conducting patrols down south; Alligator Caye, southward towards Dangriga, all the way down to Tobacco Caye over the past few days. Thus far, our efforts have resulted in none of the fishermen being found nor have we sighted the vessel, Natasha. As you can see the weather conditions have made the search somewhat tedious but nevertheless we are committed to continue on with the search until higher command gives the directive to terminate or suspend the search efforts. The islands in that area are filled with mangrove inlets and so we want to make sure that the area is properly combed, looking in all the little channels and all those mangrove channels to see if maybe the vessel is submerged. The efforts continue and at the end of play today, we will look at all that has been done throughout the week and the higher command will make a decision as to what will be the next step in this operation. Normally, we would look at the conditions, water temperatures, if bodies are in the water, we would make an effort in trying to recover individuals if they are still alive. If they are in the water, we know that in Belize, we have warmer water temperatures than other places and so we look at that and current tides in making a final assessment as to how long a person can survive in water temperature like we have been having over the past few days and other factors in making a determination as it relates to when the search will be suspended but again, that decision will be made by higher command. Whenever we conduct searches we start at first light and end at last light. We have people out there searching and the Police continue with their investigations and there are some persons of interest that the Police are looking for to question and to conduct some interviews. We continue to work together to reach a conclusion and trying to find out what transpired and see how we can find these individuals. Again, current tides, we develop search patterns depending on the size of the area; there are various search patterns that are used in search and rescue and we look at the terrain and develop a pattern and that is what we use to ensure that as much as possible every part of the ground is covered; we don’t leave a stone unturned. We make sure we comb the area properly looking for signs of the vessel, it may be submerged or hidden; we don’t want to rush through the process; we speak to local fishermen who are operating in the area, we go to the various fishing camps and we speaking to the fishermen there; it takes time, it’s a process but we are committed to that process.”</i></b></p>
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<p><b><i>LT. GREGORY SOBERANIS</i></b></p>
<p><b><i>“We have been aggressively conducting patrols down south; Alligator Caye, southward towards Dangriga, all the way down to Tobacco Caye over the past few days. Thus far, our efforts have resulted in none of the fishermen being found nor have we sighted the vessel, Natasha. As you can see the weather conditions have made the search somewhat tedious but nevertheless we are committed to continue on with the search until higher command gives the directive to terminate or suspend the search efforts. The islands in that area are filled with mangrove inlets and so we want to make sure that the area is properly combed, looking in all the little channels and all those mangrove channels to see if maybe the vessel is submerged. The efforts continue and at the end of play today, we will look at all that has been done throughout the week and the higher command will make a decision as to what will be the next step in this operation. Normally, we would look at the conditions, water temperatures, if bodies are in the water, we would make an effort in trying to recover individuals if they are still alive. If they are in the water, we know that in Belize, we have warmer water temperatures than other places and so we look at that and current tides in making a final assessment as to how long a person can survive in water temperature like we have been having over the past few days and other factors in making a determination as it relates to when the search will be suspended but again, that decision will be made by higher command. Whenever we conduct searches we start at first light and end at last light. We have people out there searching and the Police continue with their investigations and there are some persons of interest that the Police are looking for to question and to conduct some interviews. We continue to work together to reach a conclusion and trying to find out what transpired and see how we can find these individuals. Again, current tides, we develop search patterns depending on the size of the area; there are various search patterns that are used in search and rescue and we look at the terrain and develop a pattern and that is what we use to ensure that as much as possible every part of the ground is covered; we don’t leave a stone unturned. We make sure we comb the area properly looking for signs of the vessel, it may be submerged or hidden; we don’t want to rush through the process; we speak to local fishermen who are operating in the area, we go to the various fishing camps and we speaking to the fishermen there; it takes time, it’s a process but we are committed to that process.”</i></b></p>
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