Editors note: This story was updated at 2:32 p.m. on June 6 to reflect a statement from Diego Dorantes Sanchez's family.
A search is underway for an OU student after he went missing May 30 off the coast of Taiwan.
Diego Dorantes Sanchez, a 23-year-old anthropology student from Mexico, was snorkeling with three of his friends at 11:45 a.m. Friday, May 30, at Da Bai Sha beach at Green Island, Taiwan, and was last seen at 12:15 p.m, according to a Monday email from a family friend to OU Daily.
The search began at around 1 p.m. after Dorantes’ friends realized he had disappeared.
According to the email, the weather was cloudy but not of any concern and several snorkelers and scuba divers were present in the water with Dorantes and his friends. The search continued with no success until severe weather delayed search efforts.
Dorantes’ family wrote in an email to OU Daily Monday that the Taiwanese Coast Guard has conducted a search limited to Green Island, but experts assisting in the search believe he could have drifted toward Yonaguni, a small, remote Japanese island about 150 miles northeast of Green Island, or toward the Senkaku Islands area, a cluster of small uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
The email states the team is calling on local communities willing and able to join the search, including fishermen, sailors, boat owners, divers and rescuers with access to the area.
Potential trajectory of Diego Dorantes, wave pattern predictions since May 30 through June 9.
“We urge everyone with access to these areas to please search and report anything that may help,” the email reads. “(Dorantes) could be stranded and waiting for rescue.”
One week after Dorantes went missing, Dorantes' family wrote in a statement Friday that while search efforts continue, the possibility of survival is unfortunately low.
"These were intense days, full of hope and love for him. Despite all efforts, up to this moment Diego has not been found, and the chances that he is still alive are, sadly, very few," the statement reads. "We kindly ask for your understanding as we go through this great sorrow in spiritual reflection."
Before the statement, Dorantes’ family was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to locating him, according to a GoFundMe page. According to the statement, all donations will be given to a foundation the family will choose and announce later on.
"All the funds that were so generously contributed for his rescue will be donated to a foundation that Diego would have wanted to support," the statement reads.
Dorantes’ search team can be contacted at buscandoadiegodorantes@gmail.com. Social media updates, including the date and time of a memorial service, can be found at @buscandoadiegodorantes.
"Diego leaves us with a great lesson: how the love for such a special person was able to unite the strength and hearts of so many people, from different places, with the hope of finding him," the statement reads. "Just like him, who was always willing to help others."
This story was edited by Ana Barboza.
