Life-long friends Joe Rangel of Riverside, California, Lorenzo Madrid of Malibu and Mexican fishing guide, Jose Luis Ramos Garcia, were stranded in a 22-foot skiff when they became separated from a charter ship.
Mexican authorities mounted an intensive search after the men were reported missing. Local fishermen spotted the two survivors on the small island of Isla Angel de la Guarda, which is 20 miles from Bahia de Los Angeles, a community about 250 miles south of the border.
When the skiff ran out of fuel, the men drifted to the island. They had only three bottles of beer, four 15oz bottles of water, some dried fruit, and a can of cola. They were forced to eat grasshoppers and snails and drink water from plastic water bottles that floated ashore.
‘The island has no food sources,’ U.S. Consulate spokeswoman Lorena Blanco said. ‘I have been told it is quite big, but there are no animals,’ she added.
Madrid died of dehydration days before two fisherman rescued them. The boat the castaways were fishing in was not equipped with a radio, flares, or lifejackets.
AP
