The family of a paddleboarder who went missing in Florida wants answers. They are begging a watch company for access to his GPS. The paddleboarder disappeared while spearfishing earlier in the week. His family has reached out to Garmin for access to his location. He was wearing one of their watches.
29-year-old Luciano Mercenari disappeared on Monday. The last time anyone saw him was in an aqua-and-orange paddleboard. Someone later found both the paddleboard as well as one of Mercenari's bags eight to ten miles offshore between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Mercenari was nowhere to be found.
His family is desperate to find him. In a TikTok, Mercenari's cousin Allegra Jacchia asked for help in locating her cousin. The family organized a search party, but as more time passed, they grew more and more frantic to find him. She also made a plea to watchmaker Garmin. She said that her cousin wears one of their watches, but so far, they haven't been able to get access to the data.
Paddleboarder Disappears
"He was wearing this watch from the brand Garmin, which is actually a trackable watch similar to an Apple Watch where we could potentially find his location. We contacted Garmin directly, and unfortunately, they've been not helpful at all," Jacchia says in the video.
Unfortunately, the company said it's not been able to track the watch due to the fact that the paddleboarder didn't update it to the latest software. However, the family isn't accepting that explanation. They are questioning whether the watch company can do more to help in the investigation.
"We're trying to understand if there's anything, anything that they can do because they could literally save Luc's life and they've been so unresponsive and just not collaborative at all," she said.
The company has released the statement: "We know this must be incredibly worrisome for family and friends of Luciano Mercenari. Garmin has been in touch with local police in Key Biscayne since early Tuesday morning. We will continue to do whatever we can to support efforts to locate Luciano. We sincerely hope he is found and returned to safety soon."
