More than a week after a Massachusetts Marine disappeared in Puerto Rico, his loved ones are holding out hope for closure.
Samuel Maturi, a 26-year-old Worcester man, was swept away last week by a strong current on La Pared beach in Luquillo.
The active search for him ended Monday, but his fiancée, Natasha Castillo, is not giving up.
"That's what we want, to find him no matter what, no matter what," she said. "So we can have peace."
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Since the day she saw her fiancé disappear into the water, Castillo has been waiting in the same place with her family for the sea to return his body to her.
"We are still here, and we are not going to give up. And we are looking," she said. "Please, if people want to voluntarily come here, whether they are divers, whether they are people who like to be in the water ... whatever, if you want to come to help us search."
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Jorge Pavón is a rescuer who has been accompanying Castillo and her family every day. The area where Maturi was swept away is said to be a safe area, and he says he was shocked by what happened.
"As rescuers and as an organization, we established what the flag system is, but we don't put them here because this is the safest area," he said. "That hit me very hard. That's why I don't want to leave from here either."
Castillo says she started a GoFundMe page because she needs financial help to be able to remain in Puerto Rico with Maturi's mother until he is found.
Several government agencies held a roundtable Thursday to discuss what measures can be taken to prevent these tragedies from continuing to occur on the island's beaches.
