Overview
- Fernando Javier Cappi, a 32-year-old kitesurf instructor, disappeared while kitesurfing at Laguna Setúbal and his body was recovered about 20 hours later by Prefectura Naval Argentina in the canal de derivación near Club Náutico El Quillá, roughly 15 km from the last sighting.
- Witnesses and friends say Cappi was highly experienced and wore safety gear including a helmet, life jacket and boots, with the life jacket found beneath his wetsuit at the time his body was located.
- His girlfriend watched from shore and recorded part of the incident on her cellphone, a recording that investigators may use to reconstruct the final moments.
- Fiscal María Laura Urquiza opened a judicial investigation and ordered an autopsy to establish the cause of death while investigators examine hypotheses such as entanglement in kite lines or being trapped by floating vegetation and submerged debris.
- The death has shaken the local kitesurf community and will likely prompt scrutiny of inland-lagoon hazards such as rapidly changing winds, submerged debris and camalotes that can entangle gear or a person.