LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Regional Police have officially confirmed that the body recovered from the waters of Komodo National Park on Sunday morning is that of Fernando Martín Carreras, the coach of the Valencia CF women’s B-team.
In a statement to detikBali, NTT Police Spokesperson, Kombes Henry Novika Chandra, verified the identity. “Yes, it is correct. The body is an adult male and a Spanish national,” Chandra stated. The body was found at 08:47 a.m. local time in the waters between Seraya and Rinca Islands, over two kilometers from where the family’s tourist vessel, the KM Putri Sakinah, sank on December 26.
The coach’s body was discovered face down, without clothing, drifting on the calm sea surface by the police vessel KPC 2007. It has been transported to Komodo General Hospital where a formal forensic examination is underway.
“A visum et repertum and identification process by the medical team and the NTT Police Health Bureau is being carried out in accordance with Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) procedures,” explained Henry. “The head of the health bureau conveyed that identifying the victim by matching ante-mortem and post-mortem data, both primary and secondary, has been done according to Interpol’s DVI protocol.”
With one family member found, the search intensifies for the coach’s two missing sons. NTT Police Chief, Inspector General Rudi Darmoko, emphasized that all SAR elements remain fully deployed. “We continue to maximize all SAR units through sea sweeps, water patrols, and equipment support to expedite the search process,” he affirmed. He also urged local fishermen and residents around the Padar Strait to report any findings related to the victims or the wreckage.
The confirmation brings a devastating end to the ten-day search for the coach, witnessed painfully by his wife at the Labuan Bajo marina. Just days earlier, she had bowed in hope to departing rescue teams; on Sunday, she wept and prayed on the same dock as her husband’s body was returned, her prayers now for the recovery of her two still-missing children.
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