On August 3, 2026, search and rescue operations led by the Belize Coast Guard entered a new phase after teams recovered one of two men who went missing during a weekend boating trip off the coast of Caye Caulker. However, efforts are still intensifying to locate the second missing person, Samuel Chi, and the small vessel the pair were traveling in.
The incident began when Albert Vacarro and Samuel Chi failed to return to shore from their recreational outing on Sunday night, prompting an immediate missing persons report to local authorities. Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith officially confirmed the details of the report during a scheduled police briefing held on the afternoon of August 3.
Within hours of the report being filed, search operations launched around 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, covering hundreds of nautical acres across the waters surrounding Coffee Caye and the adjacent smaller island chains. After more than 12 hours of coordinated searching, search teams made a breakthrough: around 11:30 a.m. on August 3, a Belize Coast Guard patrol vessel spotted Vacarro floating adrift in open water, Lieutenant Mark Choc, Operations Officer for the Belize Coast Guard, confirmed in an interview with local outlet News Five.
First responders conducted an on-site medical evaluation immediately after pulling Vacarro from the water. The assessment found that Vacarro was suffering from severe dehydration and significant disorientation as a result of his time stranded at sea. “He was dehydrated and disoriented, whereby he was not able to confirm what really transpired,” Choc explained in his statement, noting that Vacarro’s condition left investigators unable to immediately piece together the sequence of events that led to the pair going missing.
As the search for Chi dragged on through the day, the Belize Coast Guard expanded the operation by activating a joint task force with two additional local agencies: the Belize Port Authority and the national Fisheries Department. The combined team has deployed additional surface vessels and expanded the search grid to cover more distant coastal areas in the region.
As of the afternoon of August 3, Chi remains unaccounted for, and the vessel the two men departed on has still not been located by search teams. The Belize Coast Guard has confirmed that search and rescue efforts will continue around the clock until Chi is found, and investigators will launch a full review to identify the root cause of the incident once all parties are recovered.