JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Editors note: First Coast News previously reported 46-year-old Eiffel Gilyana disappeared Saturday morning while kayaking near the St. Augustine inlet. We have since learned he was canoe surfing.
Loved ones are not giving up on finding Eiffel Gilyana, who has been missing for three days.
Forty-six-year-old Gilyana disappeared near the St. Augustine Inlet. His canoe was eventually found, but there was no sign of him.
The Coast Guard suspended their search at sunset Sunday after searching 350 square miles, but volunteers had their own search party Monday morning.
Leonardo Yui never imagined he'd spend his Christmas like this, leading a search party to find his friend. "His family and I were supposed to have dinner last night," he said.
It's a team effort to find him; even his friends with Task Force Hydro-1, a mental health support group for veterans, were looking for him.
While Yui's team is searching by canoe near the salt run, others are on the shore lines searching by foot.
Yui is holding onto hope, his friend will be found alive. "We're hoping for the best and expecting the worse, really," he said. "There are many emotions right now. I just gotta stay focused. Just keep my eye on the mission today and the mission that was yesterday. So, we just gotta keep going and do the best we can."
He's hoping for a reunion for Christmas.