Emergency teams from Lanzarote have suspended the search for Joan Quintero, the 29-year-old who disappeared with a friend in Las Maretas last Tuesday. A week has already passed since this resident of Arrecife was taken by the sea, so it is believed that the body may already be in the waters of Fuerteventura, according to reports from the Lanzarote Security and Emergency Consortium, the body that has coordinated the entire operation.
The search area is now focused on Fuerteventura, although no device is in operation on this island. "We have been warned to be attentive because the body may appear near this island", they have reported from the emergency coordination department of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura. To this end, a helicopter scans the northwest of the island once a day, from La Bocaina to Jandía, to try to locate the young man's body.
The relatives of the missing person are "outraged" by this news, as they cannot explain why the search has been suspended "so soon". A friend of Joan's has assured La Voz that on the third day of the young man's disappearance "at 11:00 a.m. there was no one looking for Joan". "The boy's brother went to look for his body by boat, alone, since there were no troops in the Las Maretas area", he lamented.
"The divers were not constantly in the area"
"We only saw three or four divers who appeared in the area from time to time, but they were not constantly there," said this friend of the family, who has remained on the shore with Joan's brother to find out first-hand how the search for the missing person was being carried out.
Joan Quintero disappeared last Tuesday with his friend and roommate, Guzmán Ginés, 32, while they were shellfish gathering in the Las Maretas area. Guzmán's lifeless body was rescued by emergency teams a day after the sea dragged him away. Joan's has not yet appeared.
Quintero and Ginés used to shellfish regularly in Órzola, but this time and for the first time they decided to go to collect limpets in the section between El Golfo and Playa Blanca. There, a couple saw them for the last time at around 8:00 p.m. and had a short conversation with them. The young men were aware of the strength of the sea, but believed they had time to collect seafood before the tide rose.
