Two fishermen rescued a Colombian woman at sea, who was later identified as having been missing for two years. The enigma of the woman, found alive and saved by the fishermen, has captivated the public. She had vanished two years prior, and authorities are still probing the details of her disappearance and subsequent rescue.
The video of the astonishing rescue spread rapidly across the internet. Fisherman Roland Visbal succeeded in saving Angelica Gaitan, 46, when he discovered her floating, unconscious, 1.2 miles from Puerto Colombia.
A week ago, around 6 AM, he and his friend Gustavo spotted a woman's body in the chilly waters. At first, they mistook her for a piece of driftwood. However, when she began to raise her hands for help, they realized the urgency of the situation. She had been treading water for hours, slipping in and out of consciousness. In the gripping footage, the men are heard shouting to draw her attention. But by the time they reached her, she had become unresponsive.
Reports later confirmed that after spending over eight hours in the water, she was suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia.
The men quickly threw a rope with a life preserver attached to the woman, pulling her to safety aboard the boat. It is reported that Gaitan's first words were:
“I was born again. God did not want me to die.”
As soon as Angelica emerged from the sea, she broke down in tears. The people who rescued her quickly brought her to the beach, where the locals gathered around her. She was promptly taken to a nearby hospital. However, her identity revealed a shocking past.
Reportedly, after enduring 20 years of abuse from her husband, she fled from him two years prior. Her family had since lost contact with her, uncertain if she was still alive.
Angelica later recounted:
“The abuse began in the first pregnancy. He beat me, he violently abused me. In my second pregnancy, the abuse continued and I could not get away from him because the girls were small.”
When she reported the domestic violence to the local authorities, the police detained her partner for only 24 hours. After his release, he would return home and continue the assaults. Angelica recounted that in September 2018, in a dreadful incident, her partner severely injured her face and attempted to end her life. For Angelica, this was an irreversible turning point, and she knew she had to escape.
She stayed in Barranquilla for six months. Yet, according to local media reports, she became depressed and thought of ending her life after she was recently forced out of a foster home.
This time, she took a bus to the beach and jumped into the water.
She said:
“I did not want to continue with my life.”
While the police investigate the case, local media have located one of her daughters, Alejandra Castiblanco. However, she has contradicted her mother's account of the disappearance, stating that she was not abused by her father and that her mental health declined following a heart attack.
The woman's two daughters have also released a joint video statement, asserting that they have not had contact with their mother since 2018, when she was believed to be in Ecuador, and only recently learned of her psychiatric treatment in Barranquilla, Colombia.
