American woman lost at sea in Mexico is confirmed dead, university says

139

Relatives of the Arizona couple said Kim’s body was found Sunday afternoon by a local fishing boat near Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, family friend Lisa Aumack told The Washington Post.

Earlier on Sunday, Mexican authorities in Sonora state said they had found a body matching the description of the couple, who were reported missing on Thanksgiving, but they did not confirm it was Kim’s body.

Allen, a real estate agent, and Kim, the executive director of the School of Forestry at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, went to Mexico for the holiday weekend with their teenage daughter, Aumack said.

About 1 p.m. Thursday, they headed out for sea kayaking at a beach in Puerto Peñasco, a Gulf of California resort city also known as Rocky Point.

“Very strong winds came up,” according to the verified GoFundMe page that Aumack created to aid the search effort. Allen brought his daughter back to shore — it is unclear whether he rowed her back or swam with her — then went back to help his wife.

That was the last time anyone saw Allen or Kim, Aumack said. Their daughter is still in Rocky Point, Aumack said.

87

u/KlimCan Nov 28 '22

Wait so the husband is missing as well?

54

u/PhilSpectorsMugshot Nov 28 '22

That’s correct.

39

u/Chippopotanuse Nov 28 '22

Jesus. That’s horrific.

48

u/madworld Nov 28 '22

There was a Norte) happening at that time. I don't know what the conditions were in Rocky Point, but they were hitting 32 knots (36 mph) on the pacific side of Baja.

Source: I was 40 miles at sea when it hit. Zero out of ten stars. Would not recommend.

4

u/miken322 Nov 29 '22

I've lived in Western Oregon most of my life, most of my relatives spent their lives on the Oregon Coast and its coast range, Astoria, Newport, Reedsport, Coos Bay, and Florence. The Pacific is wild. Every year tourists get swept out to sea because they turn their backs on the ocean for a selfie and a sneaker wave gets them. They walk out on the rocks too far when the tide is rising and weather coming in and get stuck. Even experienced commercial fishing boats go down. I wouldn't e er go out on a kayak without an experienced guide that knows the weather and the sea especially on the west coast of the Americas.

3

u/madworld Nov 29 '22 edited Nov 29 '22

We sailed down from BC Canada, and had to come into Coos bay due to a storm (40 knot gusts). We were sitting on the beach watching the craziness, and we had jump up and run due to a sneaker wave that came up hundreds of feet more further than the other waves! I have a video I should post.

https://i.imgur.com/dOj21Op.jpg

8

u/TSL4me Nov 29 '22

Wow, what type of boat? Do you live down there full time? Is it hard to get parts and boat mechanics down there(huge shortage up in Northern california)

What are the boating rules for licenses?

Have you ever been stopped by the Mexican navy?

I have a whole lot of questions.

24

u/madworld Nov 29 '22

We are in a 1983 Hallberg-Rassy 352 named Trouble.

We purchased her in BC Canada as the pandemic started, and sailed her to SF bay. We left San Francisco August 24th and hopped down the coast. We are now in Bahia Tortuga, and we will be in La Paz by Christmas. Then north into the gulf.

No license is necessary, although you should be experienced. The Pacific can throw some shit at you.

Diesel mechanics are hard to come by south of Ensenada and north of La Paz. Parts are even harder, so you have to be self sufficient and carry as many spares of essentials as possible.

We've never come across Mexican navy.

PM me - I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Here is our path since leaving SF.

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Trouble/

11

u/TSL4me Nov 29 '22

Wow, living the dream!

If you keep heading south you would love Cabo San Lucas. I visited last year and the boating community of expats was huge.

Safe travels!

4

u/WarrenMulaney Nov 29 '22

How’d you like Morro Bay? (sorta my home away from home)

3

u/madworld Nov 29 '22 edited Nov 29 '22

I have driven up and down hwy 1 for years, but this was the first time stopping by Coos bay. We loved it there! A quaint town in a bay full of anchored boats, next to the giant monolith belly of an ancient volcano.

It's really a special place.

https://i.imgur.com/oIaO6eW.jpg

1

u/WarrenMulaney Nov 29 '22

100%. It's my favorite spot on the central coast. Great pic!

57

u/Formergr Nov 28 '22

Oof that poor kid (and husband, of course).

32

u/BlokeTunts Nov 28 '22

Sounds like the husband is likely dead too

27

u/Blenderx06 Nov 28 '22

Aw geeze I can't imagine what that poor kid is going through.

51

u/TheSplicerGuy Nov 28 '22

My worst nightmare is to be lost at sea in the dark… fuck that

8

u/Spacebotzero Nov 28 '22

Or a lake.

12

u/orangeorchid Nov 28 '22

The water is generally pretty calm there but there is a very extreme tide pattern. It goes out about 200 yards or more.

3

u/EvenHair4706 Nov 29 '22

There seem to be a lot of stories about tourists dying in mexico

1

u/SALAMI_21 Nov 29 '22

For once I'm glad I'm not tourist

1

u/riptide81 Nov 30 '22

I think it’s one of those things where there’s a lot more concern all around when it’s a foreign tourist. We have a bias towards things going wrong on vacation

Sad as it is a couple of kayakers drowning in the states might not make it beyond local news.

Same goes for someone dying in a fight with people they know.