FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Fort Lauderdale police say they have examined GPS data and spoken to a witness, and they have not found any evidence to suggest foul play in the disappearance of Guma Aguiar.
Aguiar, 35, has not been seen since June 19 when he went out his boat. No one has seen Aguiar since then, and his boat washed ashore, abandoned, in Fort Lauderdale about 1:15 a.m. June 20. The search for Aguiar was called off on the evening of June 21.
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Bill Scherer, an attorney for Aguiar's wife, raised questions about Aguiar's disappearance, citing the boat's course the night Aguiar disappeared. Scherer said the boat went three miles out to sea, turned north and then came to a complete stop for five minutes before drifting back to shore.
Fort Lauderdale police said Thursday that after reviewing the GPS data from the boat, they found no evidence to suggest the boat ever came to a complete stop in the ocean. Police said the boat went northeast from the Port Everglades area until it was about three and a half nautical miles from the shore, reaching a speed of about 31 nautical miles per hour at 7:35 p.m. At 7:56 p.m., police said, the boat's GPS data show that the boat abruptly slowed to about 0.6 mph and started heading west. Then, police said, the boat drifted west at less than 3 mph until it came ashore.
A witness who was out to sea at the time Aguiar left Port Everglades reported seeing the boat "wave jumping" at a high rate of speed. The witness reported seeing only one person on the boat.
Fort Lauderdale police said they are still investigating, but they have not found any evidence suggesting that someone else was on the boat with Aguiar or that there was foul play.
Police said they still consider Aguiar a missing person, although no sightings of him have been reported.
Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Steve Novak at 954-828-5556.