Coast Guard Joins Search for Missing Jet Skier

Angie Pena

The Belize Coast Guard is currently assisting with a desperate search to locate a woman who went missing at sea on the second of January. Twenty-two year old Angie Pena was riding a jet ski near a beach in Roatan, Honduras, when she suddenly disappeared.  After days of fruitless searching nearby waters, her family fears she may have drifted into Belizean waters. News Five spoke over the phone to Captain Gregory Soberanis, Vice Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard.

Gregory Soberanis

On the phone: Cpt. Gregory Soberanis, Vice Commandant, Belize Coast Guard

“We received information from the maritime authorities in Honduras, requesting support for the search and rescue of a Honduran National, Ms. Pena. She disappeared from the beach of West Bay in Roatan on the second of January. At the time she was doing recreational activities on a jet ski. The initial search area provided to us by the Hondurans was in their jurisdiction. So, at the time when they contacted us the time had lapsed and they believed there was a slight chance of her drifting into Belize’s sea spaces or Belizean waters. The Honduran air assets were also granted permission to enter Belize’s air space t conduct an aerial search. When we received that information, our forward deploy unit down south were notified and to be on the lookout while patrolling their respective areas of interest. So, far we have been conducting searches in our southern areas. Currently we have three Honduran surface assets that have been deployed into Belizean waters to assist with the search efforts. The Coast Guard Commander down south is the on-scene commander and we are currently searching in the area of Hunting Caye, north east to Ranguana, which is five nautical miles east of Hunting Caye and sixteen nautical miles north east of Hunting Caye.”