Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, August 14, 2026 – A young man who disappeared after entering the Mascota River near colonia Getsemaní in Ixtapa was found dead Friday morning, ending an overnight search by municipal lifeguards, firefighters and police.
The emergency was reported shortly before 6:30 p.m. Thursday near Paso del Guayabo. The man had gone to the river with his girlfriend and was last seen after entering the water at about 6 p.m. When he did not resurface, she searched along the bank and called emergency services.
Crews searched until roughly 9 p.m. Thursday and returned around 7:30 a.m. Friday. The body was located about an hour later, several meters downstream from the last known point and caught among branches in the river.
Local reports identified him as Isabelo de Jesús, 28, a Puebla native who had recently moved to Puerto Vallarta and worked at an Ixtapa restaurant.
The incident occurred on a day when the National Meteorological Service forecast very heavy rain across parts of Jalisco and warned that heavy rainfall could raise river and stream levels. The statewide forecast does not establish conditions at Paso del Guayabo, and no official statement reviewed by Vallarta Daily had attributed the death to rainfall or a measured rise in the Mascota River.
Earlier in the rainy season, Vallarta Daily reported that the city’s main rivers remained below municipal risk levels, although emergency officials urged continued caution as summer rainfall increased.
Police secured the recovery site ahead of the arrival of investigative authorities. The body was transferred to the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences, which will establish the official cause of death.
