Tourist’s body found in Puerto Rico days after he was swept from waterfall

Alex DaLomba Tavares was with his girlfriend when the rip current took him by surprise

SAN JUAN — The body of a Massachusetts man who was swept away by the current at a waterfall in Puerto Rico on Wednesday has been found, according to the authorities.

Rescuers and emergency teams were searching for 28-year-old Alex DaLomba Tavares of New Bedford after he was swept away at the Gozalandia waterfall in the Municipality of San Sebastián.

Daniel Cabrero Núñez, interim director of the Emergency Management Center in San Sebastián told NBC10 Boston that one of the agency’s rescuers, Dylan Herreira, saw a hand in the middle of the brush and, after recovering the body, he was identified by the victim’s girlfriend.

“We started the search at 6 a.m. and around 11:40 a.m., he saw a hand,” Cabrero Núñez said. “When he removed the green areas and vegetative material, the body was buried with sand and sediment”.

DaLomba Tavares arrived in Puerto Rico on May 3 with his girlfriend to spend a few days on vacation.

Family members told NBC10 Boston that DaLomba Tavares was with his girlfriend and a couple from Florida in the water, when the current took him by surprise.