Learn about the story of Juan Montoya, the only survivor of the shipwreck in Florida
Juan Esteban Montoya is the name of a 22-year-old Colombian from Guacarí. Valle del Cauca, Colombia, who was the only survivor of the shipwreck that occurred last Saturday, off the coast of Florida, United States.
The mother of the only survivor of the shipwreck so far, stated that her son clung to what little remained in the boat, as can be seen in the photo.
In one of the statements offered to the Miami channel Telemundo 51, her mother, who has only been identified as Marcia, revealed with her face covered that her other 18-year-old daughter is among the missing, but that she has little hope of finding her with life.
Marcia said she has been able to reach her son by phone, and he is now in stable condition. But for legal reasons, he is in the custody of US immigration officials.
They gave up the search
A total of 40 people boarded the ship heading "to the American dream". Of which 34 are still missing and five were found dead. But due to weather conditions, this Thursday they stopped the searches until further notice.
"When I talked to my son, he told me: mom, my sister died, my sister drowned, I looked for her and I couldn't find her. I called her and called, and my sister couldn't stand it," said Juan Montoya's mother, with a voice and broken face.
"I lived through hell," was the verbatim phrase that Montoya expressed to his mother. To whom he also told that there were minors and some babies on the boat. Reason why his mother asked for understanding from the US immigration authorities for her son, since it was a miracle that he survived.
None of the crew members were wearing life jackets.
On the other hand, José Hernández, a Coast Guard worker, reported that none of the crew members had a life jacket. This makes it even more difficult for the disappeared to be found alive.
The boat came from Bimini, in the Canary Islands. It left on Saturday, January 22, and its overturning was the product of bad weather and the storm surge.
Possibly the passengers were linked to migrant smuggling
For its part, the coast guard suspects that this trip was related to the smuggling of immigrants, but has not yet offered information on the nationalities of the other crew members.
The person in charge of the case has preferred to avoid the details or specifications about the rescued young man and the other occupants. Nor has he spoken of the deceased people. He only expressed his condolences to their families.
Finally, it was learned through the information provided by the authorities that the ship that rescued the shipwreck was a private one, called "Signet jhhh". And he was sailing through the area when he saw the castaway, who was clinging to the keel of the boat that was 25 feet long and capsized about 40 miles east of Fort Pierce Cove.