Carlos Pinto Rescued After Drifting on Makeshift Raft

57-year-old Carlos Pinto’s unexpected journey at sea left his family in shock. His daughter, Dayna Pinto, told News 5 that she believes he was trying to get home after growing tired of working as a security guard on an island. Without hearing from his boss, Pinto set out on a makeshift raft, taking only his personal belongings, food rations, and a wooden paddle. Dayna explained that her father doesn’t own a cell phone.

“We’d been looking for him since around the time of La Ruta Maya,” Dayna said. “We were told that he went to work out at caye. Upon hearing that, our minds were relaxed a little. We noticed that it was taking a bit too long not hearing from him because we know a day or two is the most that we don’t see him around.”

Dayna confirmed her father’s whereabouts after speaking with her aunt, who assured her Carlos was working on the Caye. Dayna was caught by surprise when she received a call from her uncle, who informed her that Carlos had been found by the Belize Coast Guard (BCG) and taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH).

Initial medical assessment by the BCG indicated that his blood pressure was elevated, but aside from that, he was in a “fairly healthy” condition.

“I know that the young man employed him at the time and that he was watching the island for him. He gave me a call right away when he had seen the news,” she said.

The employer told Dayna he was unaware of how Pinto ended up drifting in the sea. Dayna believes her father simply grew tired of waiting and decided to leave. “I guess my dad, at that point, was just tired of being out there, so he decided to pack up his things and come home … I guess he was tired of waiting on the boss to bring him in,” she told News 5.

Carlos is now receiving treatment at KHMH, with his blood pressure being monitored. “I was amazed because like how my dad was on that thing, and nothing happened to him at the time… Sea rough sometimes,” Dayna added.

According to Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, Pinto “seemed quite contented on board that little raft that he was on drifting out at sea.”