Updated 2/27/23 at 3:07pm
#FindTheKetchupBoatGuy. The manhunt is launched on social networks. But it’s for a good cause. The Heinz brand is searching for the Dominican sailor who went missing in the Caribbean from late December to mid-January, reports CNN. It’s about giving him a nice gift after the ordeal the 47-year-old has endured on his boat. Elvis Francois had spent twenty-four days left to his own devices and subsisting mostly on ketchup before being rescued and brought back to earth.
Elvis Francois was quietly repairing his boat near the island of Saint-Martin when bad weather conditions caused it to drift out to sea with poor security. Inexperienced, with no knowledge of navigation, the Dominican found no way back to where he started. He survived with what he had on board: water, garlic powder, Maggi bouillon cubes and ketchup. “I mixed everything with water to survive about twenty-four days,” said the shipwrecked man.
Rescued by the Colombian Navy
The unfortunate sailor was spotted by a plane that flew overhead. Inmates noticed reflections of the sun sent by a mirror pointed towards the sky in the 1940s. He also had the word “Help” written on the hull of his sailboat. The Colombian Navy finally came to her aid. After learning how the Dominican survived, Heinz decided to track down Elvis Francois. After the requests to the Dominican authorities or the Colombian Navy gave nothing, on February 14 the American brand launched an appeal on social networks.
This wanted poster has a purpose. Heinz wants to continue this mishap, which ends well thanks to his ketchup, among other things. In return, the company wants to give the sailor a nice gift. This is to “help cover the cost of a new boat equipped with a technological navigation system to prevent another disaster,” company officials said. However, Elvis Francois remains untraceable.