PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The search continues for a kayaker who went missing on Sunday afternoon.
Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast stated that air and surface crews are searching for 19-year-old Elias Guillermo Lara Vargas.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officials say they got a call around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday that two kayakers had gone missing.
They were in the water around Honeymoon Island State Park.
Authorities say three kayakers went out, and that two of them ended up in the water.
Dunedin Fire Rescue says it rescued one person from the water who was then taken to the hospital to get checked out.
FWC says the two kayaks were found on Caladesi Island.
Search operations were suspended at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
Dunedin Fire Rescue went back out to Honeymoon Island to search the shore for any signs of the kayaker.
Multiple agencies are involved in the search.
#Breaking @USCG air and surface crews are searching for Elias Guillermo Lara Vargas, 19, after an officer from @SheriffPinellas reported kayakers in distress near Honeymoon Island State Park at approximately 6 p.m., Sunday.
Have any info? Call Sector #StPete @ 866-881-1392 #SAR pic.twitter.com/dMXpkIFAv8
— U.S. Coast Guard Southeast (@USCGSoutheast) January 19, 2026