MIAMI – Authorities are searching for a boater who went missing Tuesday night near the Julia Tuttle Causeway.
According to officials from the U.S. Coast Guard, a 36-year-old man was the only person on board the 32-foot boat when it departed.
Reynier Marino’s wife shared a photo of her husband with Local 10 News, as well as the boat, which had damage to its front side.
Relatives said Marino took out the boat that he had just sold and was testing it out.
The client was apparently waiting for Marino at Pelican Harbor Marina, but Marino never showed.
#UPDATE This is the most recent image of missing 36-year-old, Reynier Moreno. If you have information on his whereabouts, call Sector Miami @ 305-535-4472 #SAR pic.twitter.com/THTeNYtyO8
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) November 10, 2021
Authorities confirmed the boat was last seen around 7 p.m. in the vicinity of Pelican Harbor Marina.
They said the boat was later found near the Julia Tuttle Causeway, but Marino was not on board.
“It was bad news in the morning when a friend of mine told me Rey was missing. I was like, ‘Wow,’” Marino’s friend, Julio Labrada, said.
Labrada works with Marino, who loved ones said is an avid boater and owns his own boating business called Hellkat Powerboats.
“It’s weird because he knows everything about boats and water,” Labrada said. “It’s really sad.”
Coast Guard officials are continuing to search for the missing man, as well as authorities from the Miami-Dade Police Department, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Anyone with information about Marino’s whereabouts is asked to call the Coast Guard Sector Miami at 305-535-4472.