Two New Jersey tourists missing at sea after jet ski rental at Holetown Beach, Barbados

Oscar Suarez, 32, and Magdalena Devil, 25, disappeared Monday afternoon while jet skiing off Barbados' western coast. A search by police and the Coast Guard has so far found no trace of the pair.

Search continues for New Jersey couple missing off Barbados coast

Oscar Suarez, 32, and Magdalena Devil, 25, both from New Jersey, disappeared Monday at approximately 2:30 p.m. after renting a jet ski at Holetown Beach on the western coast of Barbados, abcnews.com reports. Both were wearing life jackets at the time they were last seen.

The jet ski operator grew concerned roughly 30 minutes after the pair set out and asked other operators in the area to look out for them. Police were notified shortly after, with the operator reporting that the couple appeared to be lost at sea.

"The operator became worried and contacted other operators in the area to carry out a search but they were not sighted," the Royal Barbados Police Force said in a statement Tuesday. "The Police Marine Unit and the Barbados Coast Guard conducted a search of the area extending as far as the Bridgetown Port but were unable to locate either the couple or the jet ski."

Investigators also checked with the Discovery Bay Hotel in St. James, where Suarez and Devil had been staying since June 22. Staff confirmed the two never returned to the property. They had been scheduled to depart on Saturday.

Inspector Rodney Inniss of the Royal Barbados Police Force told ABC News that no sightings of either Suarez or Devil had been reported as of late Tuesday evening. He added that vessels in the area had been alerted to remain on the lookout, and that Regional Security System airplanes were also assisting in the search.

A State Department spokesman confirmed awareness of two missing U.S. citizens in Barbados but declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns.

Suarez's mother, Ninfa Urrutia, said she had been unable to obtain information from authorities. "I've been calling; I call and call the police, the U.S. Embassy in Barbados, they can't provide me with any answers," she told ABC News. "They haven't called me back to let me know what I need to do or find out what's going on with my son."

Urrutia said Suarez has two children from a previous marriage — Elias, 10, and Tatiana, 5 — and that he and Devil had been dating for about a year.

His sister, Susanna Cruz, described the family's frustration with the lack of information. "We have family members calling hospitals. No one's answering the phone. Dead-end calls. We just know nothing," she told ABC News. Cruz appealed directly to anyone with knowledge of the couple's whereabouts: "Please don't stop looking. He has a daughter and son to come home to."

Investigators are urging anyone with information about the pair to contact police immediately.

Source: Google News BB — Crime