Family offers $50,000 reward for information as University of Oklahoma student vanishes in Taiwan
The family of a University of Oklahoma student who went missing while on vacation in Taiwan has offered a $50,000 reward after officials reportedly called off their search.
Diego Dorantes Sanchez, 23, vanished from Da Bai Sha beach on Green Island at about 12.15 p.m. local time on Friday, according to his family.
The anthropology student from Hidalgo, Mexico, was snorkelling with three friends off the small volcanic island, branded ' snorkelers ' paradise' for its vibrant coral reefs, which is situated about 20 miles east of the main island.
Sanchez's friends, along with several snorkelers and scuba divers who were present near the group, began their search at about 1 p.m. after realizing the student had disappeared, the family told OU Daily, the University of Oklahoma's student newspaper.
The Taiwanese Coast Guard was alerted, but adverse weather conditions delayed search efforts, the family said.
Sanchez's family told the student newspaper that the agency conducted its search limited to Green Island.
However, experts assisting in the search, who have analyzed possible drift paths, believe Sanchez could be near Yonaguni and Ishigaki, two small Japanese islands in Okinawa Prefecture, approximately 150 miles northeast of Green Island.
Friends and family called for cross-national cooperation between Taiwanese and Japanese officials and local communities to begin coordinated search and rescue efforts.
'We urge everyone with access to these areas to please search and report anything that may help,' the family said.
While friend Natalia Fabry told KOCO News: 'If you can please go to your shores and look for anyone who may be waiting for rescue. If you have a boat or you're a sailor or fisherman, if you're a diver, if you have a helicopter, anything, anyone, please help us.'
However, officials concluded their search for Sanchez on Monday, according to an update posted by friend Luis Castro on a GoFundMe page set up to support the search efforts for the missing student.
Sanchez's family, who are now in Taiwan, is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his location, according to the fundraising page.
'+72 hours have passed since Diego was reported missing,' read an update posted Monday. 'Therefore, Taiwanese government has stopped the thorough search. Diego's family has decided to offer a $50,000 reward (group of people, organization, government, anyone) to intensify the search. His family has reached Taiwan.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
Tributes laid after body found in search for missing Mylo Capilla
Tributes and flowers have been left after a body was found by teams searching for a missing 13-year-old to find Mylo Capilla were issued after he was last seen at about 21:00 BST on Thursday, at an area known as the "Muddies" in Ingleby Barwick, Police confirmed officers and partner agencies searching the River Tees had found the body of a boy on Friday. Formal identification was yet to take place, police said, but tributes have been address to Mylo. Flowers were laid in Ramsey Gardens, next to the Muddies - a large area stretching along the riverbank where residents said children and young people were known to of the messages was addressed to a loved "best friend", who would be missed every day. Specialist teams, including police drones and dogs, searched throughout Thursday night and into Friday with support from Cleveland Fire Brigade, marine water and mountain were warned to keep away from the search area for their own safety. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Reanne Coulson murder accused appears in court in Coventry
A man charged with murdering missing Reanne Coulson after a body was found in woodland has appeared in Durnion, 42, appeared at Coventry Magistrates' Court charged with 34-year-old Ms Coulson's murder. She has been missing since 21 man, Adam Moore, 38, was charged with assisting an offender. Both men were remanded in custody with Mr Durnion due to appear at Warwick Crown Court on 1 July and Mr Moore at the same court on 24 July. A body was discovered in Binley Woods, on the outskirts of the city, on Friday. Formal identification has yet to take place but West Midlands Police said they believed the body to be that of Ms Coulson. Det Supt Jim Munro said on Friday the force had been focused on doing all it could to find Ms Coulson."We've charged a man with murder and another for assisting an offender, but our inquiries to establish exactly what happened and why are ongoing," he Thursday, the West Midlands force said a 53-year-old man who had previously been arrested on suspicion of murder and kidnap had since been released on bail with strict Coulson's family had made appeals for help in the search for missing older brother Ashley thanked the public for their help and asked for the family be left alone to grieve. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Taiwan's vice-president undeterred after Czech reports of alleged Chinese car collision plot
Taiwan's vice-president has said she will not be intimidated after reports by Czech intelligence that Chinese officials planned to stage a car collision when she was in Prague last year. Hsiao Bi-khim visited the Czech Republic in March 2024, in the first overseas visit by her and president Lai Ching-te after winning the election in January. It was reported at the time that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following her car – under police escort – from the airport. This week Prague intelligence officials told local media that the incident was part of a much larger and escalatory plan by Chinese diplomats and intelligence officers working out of the embassy in Prague, which included preparing to stage an apparent car collision. On Saturday, Hsiao thanked Czech authorities for ensuring her safety during the visit. 'The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community,' she said in a social media post. The new details of the plan against Hsiao were revealed by Czech public radio service, Irozhlas, on Thursday. Petr Bartovský, director of the Czech military intelligence service, told Irozhlas that the driver stopped by police was only following Hsiao, but that the service had also identified plans, run out of the Chinese embassy, to 'demonstratively confront Ms Hsiao'. Jan Pejšek, spokesperson for the service, said the plan involved an 'attempt by the Chinese civil secret service to create conditions to perform a demonstrative kinetic action against a protected person, which however did not go beyond the phase of preparation'. The Czech reporting team said this was understood to be a collision with Hsiao's car. Pejšek said the other activity of the Chinese actors went 'to the point of endangering' Hsiao. 'These activities, which flagrantly breach the obligations arising from the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, were conducted, amongst others, by individuals holding diplomatic posts at the Chinese embassy in Prague,' Pejšek said. Taiwan's China-focused Mainland Affairs Council on Friday condemned the Chinese actions, which it said 'seriously threatened the personal safety of vice-president Hsiao and her entourage'. It demanded an explanation and public apology. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun, said Chinese diplomats 'always observe the laws and regulations of host countries', and that the Czech government had 'grossly interfered in China's internal affairs' by allowing Hsiao to visit, calling her a 'diehard Taiwan independence separatist' – a designation for which China has threatened the death penalty. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion 'China urges the relevant party to avoid being incited or used by 'Taiwan independence' forces, and refrain from creating troubles, spreading rumours, and disrupting and undermining the bilateral relations.' The Czech Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador over the incident at the time but did not comment further on Friday. Beijing intends to annex Taiwan under a claim that it is a Chinese province currently run by separatists, and vociferously objects to other governments acting in any way which lends legitimacy to Taiwan's democratically elected government.
