Overview
- The state prosecutor’s office identified the body recovered on November 16 near San Cristóbal in Bahía Tortugas as the 41-year-old U.S. fishing creator.
- A forensic study determined the cause of death was asphyxia by submersion, or drowning.
- Rijavec issued a distress call on November 11 reporting engine failure about eight nautical miles off Bahía Asunción.
- A cross-border search deployed the U.S. Coast Guard, Mexico’s Navy, private vessels, drones, terrestrial radar systems, manned aircraft, and local fishermen.
- His small skiff or kayak was later found adrift without its motor roughly five miles from shore, with authorities investigating the sequence of events and local officials urging stronger safety standards for offshore kayak fishing.