Authorities Find Body of Missing Boater Off Haulover Inlet

Body of missing boat found: FWC

Authorities said they found the body of a missing boater whose small vessel capsized off Haulover Inlet early Monday, officials said.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Jorge Pino said 21-year-old Angel Bello was found Monday afternoon on the ocean floor near where his boat had capsized earlier, around 5:30 a.m.

Bello and Jonathan Rodriguez were aboard the boat at the time and Rodriguez managed to make it to shore and call for help, Pino said.

"You go out there now and it's a challenge to swim to shore. Imagine at night. Panic starts to set in. It's a very challenging thing to try to swim to shore," Pino said.

The man who made it to shore told authorities he and Bello were out fishing early when a wave hit the boat, causing Bello to fall overboard, Pino said.

"It's very dangerous and unfortunately these two individuals, perhaps it was experience, perhaps it was the vessel was just too small, but they ended up in the water, one made it, the other did not," Pino said.

The boater who made it ashore was being questioned by investigators and authorities are still investigating the incident, Pino said.

"But once we knew an exact location and put the divers in the water, we found him. If we don't have that, it's searching for a needle in a haystack," Pino said.

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