AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Woman missing jet skiing, drowning suspected

Marvin Hazim Yono invited a 29-year-old Rickilee Michelle Mercer, American accountant of Texas, USA for a ride. reported that they left on the jet ski heading west from "Secret Beach" when they both fell off the jet ski. He then swam to shore and the last sighting of Mercer was when she was swimming towards the jet ski.

Some islanders reported seeing a woman on a jet ski drifting towards Cayo Espanto, a few miles so of Secret Beach, but as of this morning the search party deployed last night was not able to locate the woman. Police and the Belize Coast Guard head the search and investigations into the incident continue.

Click here to read the rest of the article in the Ambergris Today

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Female American National reported missing at sea in North Ambergris Caye

San Pedro Police and the Belize Coast Guard are searching for a female tourist who was reported missing at sea in Northern Ambergris Caye since Tuesday, February 28th. American National 29-year-old Rickilee Michelle Mercer, from Texas, USA, has still not been located. As the search continues today Wednesday, March 1st, police have released an official statement.

On Tuesday, 28th February, 2017 39-year-old Marvin Hazim Yono, American National of Bloomfield Michigan reported that he and another friend were at an area located west of Ambergris Caye, which is known as "Secret Beach," on separate jet skis. Around 2:30 p.m. he invited 29-year-old Rickilee Michelle Mercer, American accountant of Texas, USA for a ride. Yono reported that they left on the Jet Ski heading west from "Secret Beach" when they both fell off. He then swam to shore and the last sighting of Mercer was when she was swimming towards the Jet Ski.

Click here to read the rest of the article and see more photos in the San Pedro Sun

Does not make sense to me, the jet ski would have come to a complete stop pretty quick yet he decided to swim to shore, she was last seen swimming to the jet ski, might just be me but does not sound right.

Body found during search for woman missing in Belize

The U.S. Embassy in Belize said they have been notified that an American citizen was reported missing after jet skiing in the area around Ambergris Caye.

Rickilee Mercer, of Spring, left for Belize on Feb. 24. She was taking a vacation with friends, according to her family.

On Tuesday night, her family got the call that she was missing. Authorities told her family that she had been missing since around 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Her family said Mercer was on a jet ski with a man when she went missing. That man was questioned while in police custody, but has since been released, according to reports.

Her family doesn't believe she knew the man or went on the trip with him. The family believes he was a tourist as well and the two may have met on the trip.

The father of one of Mercer's friends said the body was identified as that of Mercer, but an in-person identification will take place on Thursday.

Natella Svistunova, from the Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy, said the embassy was informed that a body had been found in the area where the search for Mercer was taking place.

Svistunova said the identity of the body is unknown at this time. According to the Belize Police Department, the woman's body was found at about one thirty this afternoon, four miles northwest of Secret Beach, around the vicinity of Blackadore Caye with apparent injuries to her neck. Her body has since been transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City awaiting a postmortem examination.

A family friend told the Houston Chronicle that they were thrown off the Jet Ski and the current ripped them apart. He was saved right offshore by a boat and said that he had been swimming for an hour and a half." Post mortem results should be released tomorrow.

Source

Police say no foul play suspected in the death of Rickilee Mercer

A post mortem examination on the body of American National Rickilee Michelle Mercer has confirmed her cause of death as drowning. Mercer, a 29-year-old accountant from Spring Texas USA, was found dead in the leeward coast of Ambergris Caye on Wednesday, March 1st. She had been reported missing at sea late Tuesday evening, on February 28th, after reportedly falling off of a Jet Ski.

According to police, due to the results of the post-mortem, no foul play was suspected in the cause of death and the case has since been closed.

Click here to read the rest of the article in the San Pedro Sun

Since laws on the books say one must have a Captain's license to operate a jet ski, can we assume these two persons hold Captain's licenses in Belize? Is there a Jet Sli rental company in Ambergris Caye? Licenses?

See attached

Very interesting. Probably also worth noting that one has to be at least 18 years old to get a license.