Christopher John Macquarrie, 58, was last seen on July 12, 2010, when he took his 26-foot open console pleasure craft out into the Gulf of Mexico from Sarasota County, Florida. He left a voicemail at 2:15 p.m. saying he planned to snorkel in deep water and expected to return by 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. His home was left unlocked with a float plan on the patio table.

Two days later the U.S. Coast Guard found his boat, operating number FL3292GM, adrift and empty about 30 miles offshore from Sanibel Island; other reports place the abandoned vessel about 38 miles west of Sanibel. The key was in the ignition and the engine was in gear but had stopped running, possibly for lack of oil. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the Coast Guard searched for Macquarrie but he was never found.

Macquarrie was a University of Florida Law School graduate and practiced civil law. His later life included a public history of alcohol-related arrests, a 2005 incident in which he was charged with holding three people at gunpoint and later acquitted, and documented mental illness. Authorities believe he was lost at sea and his body has not been recovered.

If anyone witnessed a small pleasure boat in that area on July 12 or shortly after, or has information about Macquarrie’s disappearance, please share what is known.