By Trina A. San Agustin
Variety News Staff

A 35-YEAR-old man drowned at Tanguisson Beach yesterday, marking the fifth life claimed by Guam waters so far this year.
The U.S. Coast Guard pulled the body of Auti Akineo Kasuta from Guam waters early yesterday morning after the Navy’s Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, or HSC-25, spotted it.
On Sunday evening, Kasuta and four family members were in the water spear fishing when a large wave reportedly broke over the group. The other four members were able to make it back to shore but they discovered that Kasuta had “disappeared,” according to a release from the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard, the Guam Fire Department, and the Navy HSC-25 assisted in locating Kasuta. GFD and Kasuta’s family members searched for him on the beach. The HSC-25 conducted two search patterns, and one of those resulted in the discovery of Kasuta’s flashlight.
The search was suspended until first light yesterday morning and at that point, an HSC-25 helicopter spotted the body. The body was recovered by the Coast Guard’s boat crew, according to a media release.
Kasuta’s remains were then transported to the Guam Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:15 a.m. yesterday, according to GMH nursing supervisor Cely Mangrobang.
An autopsy was to have been completed yesterday afternoon by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola. As of press time the chief medical examiner’s report was not available to Variety.