The son of a billionaire banker was killed by a boat propeller while desperately trying to save his fiancée during a Florida Keys fishing competition.
Juan Carlos Escotet Alviarez — the 31-year-old son of Venezuela-based Banesco president Juan Carlos Escotet Rodriguez — died Saturday afternoon after jumping into waters about six miles off north Key Largo as he and fiancée Andrea Montero, 30, tried to snag sailfish from a 60-foot boat, the Miami Herald reported.
Escotet Alviarez dove into the water to try to save Montero when she fell overboard, but hit the vessel’s propeller immediately and died from his injuries, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report obtained by the newspaper.
The pair were taking part in a fishing tournament organized by the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo. The FWC report did not cite Montero’s condition and a call seeking additional comment from the agency was not immediately returned Monday.
Escotet Alviarez was the youngest of Escotet Rodriguez’s sons, Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported.
The University of Miami graduate served as the director of the Miami-based Banesco USA and also had “vast experience” in real estate development throughout the Miami area, according to the company’s website.
Banesco USA officials did not immediately return a message seeking additional details on Saturday’s fatality. Some Venezuelan news outlets, meanwhile, posted online tributes Sunday to Escotet Alviarez, who was reportedly set to marry Montero in November and will be buried in Miami.
Montero, meanwhile, managed to get out of the water “without consequences,” according to an Instagram post by Venezuela-based journalist Angela Oraa.
