A week searching for Adam: contradictions and unknowns in the disappearance at sea of the minor

Girona / BarcelonaA week ago, Adam and his friends took a guided jet ski tour from Roses beach.However, for reasons still under investigation, as the sun set, the sixteen-year-old did not return to shore with the rest of the group. Seven days later, he remains missing. Only his jet ski was found, off the coast of Pals, about 25 kilometers south of the departure point, with a strong impact.

Throughout the weekend, firefighters and the Civil Guard's Maritime Rescue services scoured this entire area of the Costa Brava from end to end, by sea and by air. Without success. Now, only divers from the Spanish authority are working on the ground. After so many days, the firefighters and other emergency services have withdrawn. Now, the search is called passive.

The Civil Guard has taken over the investigation of the case to clarify the reasons for the disappearance and, for now, they are working with the hypothesis that the young man lost his life jacket at some point and sank. However, the information is very vague and the statements from those involved, both the young people and the company managers, are contradictory, a fact that makes it difficult to know how the events occurred.

Contradictions

It is not clear how many young people were part of the group on the outing and whether they were wearing life jackets. Nor is it clear if they were actually accompanied by a supervisor, as stipulated by regulations, and if this supervisor held the necessary qualifications. The Civil Guard also finds it very strange that the young people or the company did not call the emergency number until around eleven at night, almost two hours later. On paper, this was the moment the group lost sight of the minor. Regarding the jet ski accident, it needs to be clarified whether it was a result of the vehicle drifting or if it occurred during the excursion. The Civil Guard is also surprised by the appearance of the jet ski so many kilometers away.

The police are also investigating until what time they were at sea, as jet ski movements cannot be made when it is already dark. The activity also required parental authorization – necessary when the drivers are under 16 years old – and it is also being reviewed if it was present. "All of this is very strange," corroborate all sources consulted.

The company has temporarily closed

The Civil Guard is also investigating whether the company complied with all permits, such as using GPS locators in all vehicles. On Friday, agents sealed off the business's jet skis, which has temporarily closed and deactivated its website. It had been operating for approximately one year with a premises in the Santa Margarida canals area, until now without any incidents. It also had very active social networks that have been deleted, and on Google Maps it appears that the business is closed. The website is "under development".

Meanwhile, given so much uncertainty, Adam's family, of Maghrebi origin and well-rooted in the town, has issued an appeal on social networks, disseminating an image of the minor and asking for citizen collaboration. They did this from their personal accounts, with posts that have already been deleted. But the poster continues to circulate, and the family has explicitly asked this newspaper to make it public and for the dissemination not to stop. The poster informs that the young man is one meter eighty tall, has black hair and brown eyes.