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Woman urges court to declare missing domestic partner dead
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Posted on Sep 09 2008
A woman has asked the Superior Court to declare dead her domestic partner who has been missing since last January when a big wave swept him and his companion from the cliff line at Marine Beach in Kagman.
Frauline T. Chisato asked the court to declare Skaruno M. Renguul deceased for the purpose of obtaining a death certificate.
Chisato was the unmarried domestic partner of Renguul, a 48-year-old Palauan. They had four children.
Attorney Ed Peterson of the Micronesian Legal Services Corp.-Marianas Office stated in court documents that Chisato was the unmarried domestic partner of Renguul from 1983 until the time of his disappearance on Jan. 20, 2008.
Peterson said Renguul had gone to the cliff line at Marine Beach to hunt for crabs. While he and fishing partner Frank Leon Guerrero were making their way back to Marine Beach, a big wave swept them out to open water.
Peterson said the two managed to climb back up onto the rocks but another wave came crashing in and swept them back into the water.
Leon Guerrero managed to climb back onto the rocks and for 30 to 40 minutes yelled out Renguul’s name, but there was no reply and he was nowhere to be found.
Leon Guerrero swam back toward the rocks and hurried back to Marine Beach to call for help.
A search and rescue operation was conducted by the Department of Public Safety’s Boating Safety Section, the Emergency Management Office, Commonwealth Ports Authority, CNMI Fire Division Search and Rescue Unit, the CNMI Dive Rescue Team, and the U.S. Navy and various friends and family members.
Peterson said no one found a trace of Renguul.
“Being swept out along the cliff line at Marine Beach by a huge rogue wave, Renguul was exposed to the specific life-threatening perils of drowning or being dashed against rocks and suffering injuries of death and or subsequent drowning,” the lawyer said.
Leon Guerrero, 38, suffered minor abrasions and scratches to the lower back and right elbow as well as fluid in the lungs.
