Joel Anthony Ariza, 24, vanished from the Delaware River after his new boat began taking on water shortly after launch under the Commodore Barry Bridge in Chester, Pennsylvania, in the early morning of October 30, 2009. About five minutes into the trip the engine stalled and the friend aboard jumped and swam to shore; Joel chose to stay with the boat and was not wearing a life jacket. The friend reached shore after roughly an hour and saw the vessel nearly submerged; Joel was not seen again.

Search-and-rescue operations by private volunteers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the New Jersey State Police T.E.M.S. Unit and the Chester Police underwater unit used boats, helicopters, side-scan sonar and dragging, and continued through October 31, 2009, without finding him. At 5:41 a.m. the partially submerged 14–16 foot boat was found about 7.21 miles downriver at Delaware Fox Point State Park in Wilmington. He is presumed to have drowned but his body has never been recovered and detectives list the case as lost/injured missing.

Does anyone have information about Joel, the boat, or that stretch of river on the night of October 30, 2009?