On February 17, 2024, 54-year-old Ruben Mora Sr. of Port Charlotte left Marina Park Boat Ramp in Venice, Florida, for a Gulf of Mexico fishing trip with three other men: 38-year-old Angel Hernandez Munoz, 37-year-old Julio Cesar Cordero Briones, and 35-year-old Alfonso Vargas-Parra, all from North Port. They departed around 8:00 a.m. in a white 1995 23-foot Sportcraft motorboat, registration FL9937HC, and were expected back the same day but never returned.

A family member alerted authorities when the group failed to come back and police found the men’s vehicle and boat trailer still at the ramp. The U.S. Coast Guard, Venice Police Department, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and other state and local agencies conducted an extensive search from Stump Pass to Longboat Pass and out more than nine miles into the Gulf, covering about 10,345 square nautical miles over roughly 60 hours. No sign of the four men or the boat was found and the Coast Guard suspended active searching on the evening of February 19, 2024, pending new information. Ruben Mora Sr. is diabetic and takes medication, a detail his family cited with concern.

Anyone who was on the water that day or has information about the boat with registration FL9937HC is asked to come forward.