A tragic ending to the thriller that had been ongoing since yesterday afternoon on the island of Kefalonia with the 20-year-old South African man being found dead this morning in the sea off the beach of Palioura.

A major Coast Guard operation was set up in the harbour of Sami, assisted by a helicopter from the air, in order to locate the young sailor. After 17 hours of searching, a private diver found the 20-year-old dead in the sea in the sea area off the location of Palioura.

His body was transferred to the Health Center of the island and, according to information, no signs of blows. Everything indicates that his death is due to drowning, however, answers to the mystery are expected to give the necropsy to which his body will be subjected by the Forensic Service of Patras.

The 20-year-old Benjamin was working on a catamaran that was cruising in the Ionian Sea and yesterday afternoon he tied up off the small beach for a dive. Shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, the Benjamin dove in but never surfaced, prompting the captain of the catamaran to send a signal to the Coast Guard.

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As the Mayor of Sami, Mr. Panagi Drakulogonas, tells protothema.gr, the spot where the 20-year-old was found dead is not dangerous as the water is shallow while yesterday the weather conditions were good. “The boy was working on a catamaran. He had come from South Africa but his mother is Greek. Yesterday afternoon, around 6 o’clock, the Coast Guard was informed that he had gone for a swim and did not return to the boat. We don’t know what time he was lost.

The site is a quiet cove and yesterday the weather was very nice. It is a dirt road that ends at the beach and they go boats open, 20 meters, and dive there. It’s shallow water, there’s nothing strange about the sea there. There was a helicopter up to search but a diver found him near where he was swimming. So far all indications are that it was a drowning. There were no marks or bruises on the body. However, the Coast Guard is conducting a preliminary investigation into how it happened,” Drakulogonas said.