Body of Missing Kayaker Identified

The family of Dario Cholula Rojas, 31, the Queens man who disappeared off Tyndal Point in North Haven on October 19 after going out at night in a kayak to fish, said his body has been identified.

Marilyn Cholula, the victim’s sister-in-law, said the family had been informed on Tuesday, November 22, by the Suffolk County medical examiner’s office, that a body found on a Shelter Island beach earlier in November was that of Cholula Rojas.

Lt. Susan Ralph of the Southampton Town Police and Chief James Read of the Shelter Island Town Police, confirmed that Cholula Rojas had been identified.

Cholula said the family was grateful to finally have closure and thanked those who had helped search for her brother-in-law. She said the family planned to hold his funeral in Corona, Queens, where most of his family lives, on Friday, November 25.

Cholula Rojas was working on a construction job in North Haven and staying on the property during the work week. An avid fisherman, he went out after dark on October 19 but did not return.

The following morning, his kayak, with his fishing rod stowed inside, was found down the beach not far from where he had departed.

Despite intensive searches by East End police, marine patrols, the U.S. Coast Guard, volunteers and family members, Cholula Rojas remained missing.

On November 8, a woman walking her dog on the beach at Smith Cove in Mashomack Preserve, directly across from Tyndal Point, discovered a body.

Cholula Rojas’s family said they were told the body was dressed similarly to what he had been wearing on the day he disappeared, but that he could not be officially identified until a full forensics examination had been completed.