A widespread search and rescue operation is underway off the coast of northeastern St. Vincent after a 51-year-old local fisherman and farmer failed to return from a solo fishing trip, leaving his long-term partner convinced he has been lost to the dangerous waters the region is known for. Robert Lavia, widely known to local residents as Robbie, set out from his home in Owia at approximately 5 a.m. Wednesday, heading to a stretch of coastline between Rock Gutter and Cramacou, a fishing spot he had frequented in the past.
According to Annis “Janice” Hoyte, Lavia’s common-law wife for more than two decades, the experienced outdoorsman prepared for his trip a day in advance. On Tuesday, he traveled to a local river to catch crayfish, which he planned to use as bait for his scheduled fishing excursion. Like almost all of his fishing outings, Lavia embarked on this trip alone, carrying only a bucket, a bag, a cutlass, and his fishing lines.
As the hours stretched into midday Wednesday with no sign of Lavia’s return, Hoyte began to grow concerned. Unused to him staying out this long without checking in, she alerted Lavia’s brother of her worry before filing an official missing person report with the Owia Police Station. The entire village mobilized quickly to launch an initial ground and shore search for the missing man, but as of Thursday, no trace of Lavia has been found beyond a single recovered fishing reel – details of where and by whom the reel was found remain unconfirmed.
With no signs of life and the well-documented hazards of the area’s waters, Hoyte says she has abandoned hope of finding Lavia alive. Speaking through tears to reporters from iWitness News on Thursday, she shared her theory of what likely befell her partner: “Lavia was on a rock and a swell knocked him off the rock and he knocked his head and he fell in the water.”
The coastal waters of northeastern St. Vincent have a long-standing reputation for strong, unpredictable currents and unexpectedly large waves, conditions that have proven dangerous for even experienced local fishermen in the past. Hoyte described Lavia as a quiet, reserved man, and said she is overwhelmed by grief at the prospect of having lost him.
Local authorities have confirmed they received the missing person report on Wednesday, and official search efforts have expanded in the days since. On Thursday, a vessel from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard was spotted conducting patrols and search operations in the coastal stretch between Owia and Fancy, as authorities continue to comb the area for any sign of the missing man.