- [Man] (speaking Spanish) - [Narrator] The ocean
is notoriously vast, dark, and seemingly bottomless at times. Its terrifying yet perplexing nature has fascinated human
beings of all ages, races, and backgrounds since the dawn of time. Some seek the solace of
the beach for a vacation, whereas others live and
breathe the life at sea. Any fisherman asked about the sea would
presumably say the same thing. Waves are not measured by feet or inches. They are measured by increments of fear. You see, a person may have the strength to survive most natural
phenomenon like storms, winds, and even fires. Getting lost at sea is
another thing entirely. In fact, a fisherman's
worst fear is being stuck on their back, adrift in the open waters as they wait impatiently
for their body to succumb to the will of the waves or worse, whatever lurks beneath them. This fear rears its ugly
head from time to time when fishermen are met with the remains of some other unlucky soul
who had gone toe-to-toe with the sea and lost. That is precisely what two
unsuspecting fishermen thought when they came across the
body of Angelica Gaitan, floating aimlessly off the
coast of Puerto Colombia - [Man] (speaking Spanish) Hola? Hello? - [Narrator] However,
upon closer inspection, they realized that there was
so much more to the story than they could have ever imagined. - [Man] (speaking Spanish) - [Narrator] What is up, EWU Crew? The story we have in store for
you today is a strange one. If you enjoy true crime
mysteries and true stories, be sure to hit the Like
button and Subscribe. Now let's get into it. In the early morning hours of Saturday, September 26th, 2020, local fishermen Rolando Visbal
and his friend, Gustavo, were going about their
usual fishing routes when they came across something peculiar. In the distance, just ahead of their relatively small
fishing boat was what appeared to be a log. At first, the two men
did not think much of it. In fact, they intended
to move right past it before they suddenly realized
that what they assumed to be a log was moving. Rolando remembers Gustavo warning
him to be careful steering around the log. But when he aimed the boat
away from the strange object in the water, he was
shocked to see it move. He thought it might be
something supernatural but he would soon come to the realization that this was far from the case. More than that, it wasn't a log at all. It was the arm of a woman
and it was waving at them. Once the two men realized that they were discovering something that they were potentially
not supposed to find, Gustavo pulled his cell
phone out of his pocket and started to record. As they maneuvered the boat closer to the woman in the water, they
had no idea what to expect. They then struggled to
save the drifting woman by tying a rope to a life preserver and throwing it out to her. After Rolando lifted
the woman out of the sea and into the boat, he repeatedly
asked her for her name in hopes to gain some kind of insight into what had happened. (woman crying) - (speaking Spanish) (woman crying) - (speaking Spanish) (woman crying) - [Narrator] He can be
heard in the video calling out to the unknown woman in
both English and Spanish. For the most part, the
woman was unresponsive and it was evident to
both of the fishermen that she was suffering from
a severe case of hypothermia. All the same, the
communication she was able to get out came mostly in
the form of hysterical tears. (woman groaning) - (speaking Spanish) (woman groaning) She was fully clothed,
wearing a pair of sneakers and several scarves. All while filming the strange incident, the men managed to bring
the freezing woman to shore as quickly as possible. Once ashore, Rolando enlisted help from the locals who had
been populating the beach at that very moment. - [Man] (speaking Spanish) - [Narrator] Some men
brought the woman water and helped her try to drink while others held her head upright in attempt to keep her conscious. Periodically, Rolando would
ask for the woman's name again and feel disappointed when his question received no response. - [Rolando] (speaking Spanish) - [Narrator] Some of
the locals who stopped to assist the woman with
Rolando even attempted to call an ambulance but were turned down. Eventually the group of
makeshift first responders decided to load the woman into the back seat of a car and drive her to the nearest hospital themselves. Once the group arrived at the hospital, the mystery woman from
the sea was admitted and treated immediately for
hypothermia and exhaustion. After having her vitals checked and being assured by doctors
that she would be fine, the woman spoke her first
words since being rescued. "I was born again. God
did not want me to die." Realizing the woman was both conscious and willing to speak,
doctors and medical staff at the hospital took the opportunity to gather her information. The woman, whose name was Angelica Gaitan, was a 46-year-old mother
originally from Bogota, Colombia. When doctors asked Angelica
for the contact information associated with her family so that they could be
notified of her accident, she grew quiet. It was evident that there had
been far more to her story than the woman had been letting on. Angelica had been declared
missing from her family for two whole years. The surreal video taken by Visbal received over 163,000 views on
his social media account, and the public immediately
latched onto this bizarre case. When pressed for answers, Angelica relinquished information surrounding her mysterious disappearance and explained why it had been
imperative for her to leave when she did. According to Angelica,
she had allegedly been in an abusive relationship for 20 years. Prior to the birth of their first child, Angelica's husband had
never laid a finger on her, though he had been prone
to displaying toxic traits from time to time. However, during her first
pregnancy, Angelica felt the wrath of her husband repeatedly. By the time Angelica realized that she had gotten pregnant again with the couple's second
child, she had hopes that her husband's alleged
horrifying behavior would cease once and for all. According to Angelica's claims, however, her husband had no intention of stopping his actions anytime soon. At that point in their marriage, Angelica's husband had done
everything in his power to disconnect his wife
from her social circles. He allegedly even went so far
in his disgusting power trip that he forbade her
from using the bathroom and made her use the garden instead. Because of this Angelica was trapped in a seemingly endless cycle
with no clear way out of it. More so than that, her
daughters were so small that she couldn't just abandon them or they likely would not survive. Throughout her tumultuous
marriage, Angelica claims to have reported her
husband dozens of times. Each attempt to keep her
husband at bay only resulted in local police taking him
away for 24 hours at a time and returning him to their
shared home the next day. Upon his return, Angelica would be met with his anger all over again. She had been trapped inside
of what felt like a nightmare, but it had been even worse. It had been real. There had been no waking up from it. And so in September of 2018,
Angelica Gaitan decided that she had suffered for far too long. On one particular autumn day, Angelica's husband had
been excessively aggressive toward her. When she had stared
into his hollowed eyes, she was positive that he
was going to kill her. But Angelica did not want to
die, not like that, at least. Without disclosing too much information to the news outlets who interviewed her, Angelica simply explained
that she had managed to escape from the situation she had been in. Angelica left and fled toward the city of
Barranquilla, seeking refuge. Once there, she was essentially
forced to wander the streets for around six months, with
little money and resources to help her get through. Down on her luck, with a little
to nothing to live off of, Angelica sought help from
a local woman's office in Barranquilla. There she was housed, fed, and listened to for around a year and a half in hopes that her husband would
not come looking for her at some point. However, even then, she
didn't find complete solace in the shelter. She reports being bullied
during her time there with other members turning
off her water during showers and pouring soap into her juice. Angelica's stay at the woman's office in Barranquilla ended abruptly
in late September of 2020, for a reason that remains
unclear at the moment. There are various theories
regarding her sudden exit from the facility but none of them have been
adequately confirmed by Angelica except one. According to a comment
Angelica made in an interview following her discovery
in Puerto Colombia, she had been forced to leave the shelter because her husband had apparently
left the city of Bogota, making it safe for her to
return home if she wished. In reality, the notion of her
husband leaving Bogota was not as reassuring as the staff
of the woman's facility had made it seem. Yet again, Angelica had found herself in a compromised position
with no obvious route to take. Because of this, she felt more
hopeless than ever before. Angelica herself stated that
she wanted to end everything. She had no help from anywhere,
not even from her family, because her husband kept her
away from her social circle. That's why she didn't
want to continue living. Her explanation is heart-wrenching, as it truly shows the
extent of her loneliness and lack of hope. She once lamented, "If I had
had an opportunity or help, I would not make that decision." So in the late hours of
September 25th, 2020, Angelica borrowed money from
an acquaintance she had known in Barranquilla and bought
a one-way bus ticket to the coast. Once she walked down to the beach and stared out at the
reflection of the moon on the sea before her, she made a life-altering decision. Being on the seashore,
she found herself alone and in solitude. She decided to jump into
the sea and let it take her. She had just hoped that the
nightmare would soon be over. Angelica figured that it would not be long before her body succumbed
to the ocean's elements. The water on the Atlantic side
of Colombia was far too cold for one to be immersed
in all night and survive. However, by some miracle, Angelica lived. After eight hours of drifting aimlessly in the ocean's currents, Angelica's half-conscious
body wound up 1.2 miles off the coast of Puerto Colombia. It was there that her body was discovered by Rolando and Gustavo who
had helped pull her body from the sea and ensured she lived. As aforementioned, Angelica's first words after being rescued and revived
in the hospital bed were, "I was born again. God
did not want me to die." Angelica claims to have no
real recollection of floating in the ocean and nearly dying. However, she does recall
feeling something brush past her in the water, something she
assumed to have been sharks checking out their potential prey. Indeed, the Caribbean Sea
that she was drifting in contains many different
types of dangerous sharks, like tiger and bull sharks,
and she later explained, "I knew there are many sharks in the area. And I don't know if in
a hallucination, I felt that a fin passed very close
to me, but it didn't stop." Despite the intense
realness of that memory, Angelica is not sure
if the sharks were real or just an evil figment
of her imagination. Regardless, Angelica received
the ultimate reminder that her life matters. She lived. Like many people whose attempts
to end their lives fail, it seems that Angelica immediately came to regret her decision. She said, "Thank God I was alive, and he threw me a life preserver." It turns out she was very lucky
that day for another reason. Rolando later told
Colombia's Caracol Radio that he and his partner came very close to canceling their fishing trip that day because of issues with the boat's engine that had ended up
delaying an earlier trip. He said, "If we hadn't had the
problem with the spark plug on Friday, we would have
gone fishing that day and the woman would be dead at sea." He has a good-natured outlook
on the unexpected situation. Spoken like a true good Samaritan. Rolando shared, "So it turns out that I didn't catch any
fish that day either, but I fished a life. I think this was God's purpose." Shortly after Angelica's rescue, authorities could locate and
contact one of her daughters, Alejandra Castiblanco. When informed of her mother's
status and whereabouts, Alejandra was shocked
and confirmed with police that she had not heard from
her mother in nearly two years. In fact, Alejandra
noted that the last time she had contact with her mother was before Angelica had left home in 2018, to presumably go to
Ecuador with her brother. When officials informed Alejandra of Angelica's reason for
leaving all those years prior, Alejandra's response
was rather unexpected. In fact, it was not at all what the police were expecting to hear. Alejandra and Angelica's other daughter both disputed their mother's claims. Local officials were
stunned at this assertion, as they had just heard
the 46-year-old woman have a breakdown over
the events of her past that had led her to her darkest moment. Alejandra informed the police
that Angelica had suffered from mental health issues for years, and even had some kind of heart defect that affected her way of life. According to Alejandra, her mother had frequent panic attacks and even a phobia-like fear
of high-end expensive cars. Just the sight of a pricey
vehicle would cause Angelica to spin out in some kind of fit that demonstrated her extreme
concern with being taken or harmed by someone or something. Alejandra also claimed that her mother had ongoing
heart problems for a long time, which she thinks are
linked to the downfall of her mental health. Apparently, a particularly
bad heart attack proceeded the deterioration
of Angelica's mind. The other daughter, Paula Castiblanco, also shared the sentiment that Angelica was not
mentally sound when she spoke with a Colombian media
outlet called El Geraldo. "We think that during the period of time that she was missing, perhaps
something could have happened to her that caused her
psychological trauma." Rather than escaping her father, Alejandra claims that her
mother simply walked away from her home without any notice. When it comes to Angelica
Gaitan's initial disappearance back in 2018, it is unclear exactly who is telling the truth. It is important to keep
in mind that these events of suffering often occur
behind closed doors, for no one else to see. When our hearts and minds are strained, it can often feel as though
living is too hard to manage. Angelica Gaitan has since been reunited with some of her family members
since her recent rescue. Her daughters are raising money to help their mother make
the move back to Bogota. Local Colombian investigators
are still looking into the conflicting circumstances surrounding her original disappearance. Regardless of why she disappeared, Angelica Gaitan has asserted
that if she had the chance to revisit that night on
the coast of Barranquilla, she would not choose
to jump into the water. So today we will leave you
with the words of the woman who was found alive at sea,
after having been missing from her family for two long years. "I'm extremely grateful, because God gave me another
chance to move forward."
