Missing fisherman's spear gun found as search continues

Rescue crews with the Guam Fire Department were seen on a boat and on jetskis just inside Apra Harbor Friday morning.

They are among the large group including the Guam Police Department, the Coast Guard, the Navy and others searching for a 31-year-old man who went missing late Thursday afternoon.

Officials say the man was spearfishing with others at the area known as blue hole near Orote point. The man was free diving.

By 6 p.m. Thursday, officials got the call - that man never made it back to his group’s boat.

The search efforts expanded for hours.

It hasn’t been easy, according to GFD spokesperson Nick Garrido.

"So the initial conditions were fairly calm, and visibility was high, however, we went into the evening dark hours which made visibility change and water conditions changed as well," he said. "We were getting, as per the units out in the water they were getting some heavy chop along with heavy winds."

Authorities set up a command post at Family Beach near the port authority.

By mid-morning Friday, family and friends of the missing diver were also at the command post still not yet ready to speak about what’s happening. But they are watching and waiting for any sign of their loved one – hoping for his safe return.

And just before noon, our cameras captured the moment search crews recovered a spear gun.

Garrido confirmed it belonged to the missing man.  

"At the end of the day, the goal here is to have a successful mission and to hopefully have a positive outcome," he said.  

One man we spoke with off camera confirmed he was with the group saying the 31-year-old is the best diver among them, adding the missing man was even the one who chose the dive spot.

He’s hopeful his friend is still out there --alive.

Meantime, coast guard officials involved in the search told KUAM, “our watch team at joint rescue sub-center Guam continues to seek aviation support and coordinate search areas using our search and rescue planning tools.”

They added, “our thanks to the U.S. Navy Security Forces team, who provided searches along the short and harbor.”

This latest search comes after the island already recorded a number of water-related incidents this year that ended tragically. 

"With all these water-related incidents, through the homeland security, civil defense, along with National Weather Service, we hope they provide notices to the community daily, weekly, or as needed and we just ask the community to continue to adhere to those notices," Garrido said.