Body found in search of couple who went missing in Mexico

A body was found during search operations for a Flagstaff couple who went missing after they went sea kayaking in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico – also known as Rocky Point – on Thanksgiving.

On Sunday, after an “intensive search operation” using air, land and sea resources, the local navy (Secretaria de Marina) reported that a body matching the characteristics of one of the missing people was found in Playa Encanto, a local beach, according to Proteccion Civil Sonora. The Puerto Peñasco government said in a statement on Saturday the couple went kayaking on that beach.

The name of the couple hasn’t been released by authorities, but a GoFundMe identifies them as Corey Allen and Yeon-Su Kim.

Allen and Kim went kayaking with their daughter around 1 p.m. on Thursday, and when strong winds and currents appeared, Allen took his daughter back to shore. Allen then went back out to help Kim, and the couple or their kayaks haven’t been seen since, according to the GoFundMe.

The Municipal Civil Protection Unit (Unidad de Proteccion Civil Municipal), the local navy (Secretaria de Marina) and the Municipal Public Security (Seguridad Publica Municipal) have coordinated air, land and sea searches for the couple. The city’s mayor Jorge Pivac Carrillo reinforced the search on Saturday, according to a Puerto Peñasco government statement.

Authorities have searched in areas near Playa Encanto, including Las Conchas, La Pinta and Mayan Palace. U.S. volunteers have also joined the search, some using private airplanes, with the “hope and firm intentions of having positive results as soon as possible” the statement says.

Alan Ontiveros, director of Municipal Civil Protection, said the couple’s daughter, who is a minor, was left under the protection of relatives who traveled to the city.