An Arizona couple visiting Rocky Point has been missing since going kayaking on Thanksgiving Day, Sonoran officials say.
The couple from Flagstaff was last seen about 1 p.m. Thursday. A missing persons report was filed that night and a search started on Friday, said a spokesman for Sonora's civil protection agency.
In a Facebook post about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, the agency said the search continued and asked for help from other agencies in Sonora.
It said searches had been conducted using four private aircraft in various areas around the beach community.
A land search also was being conducted with the help of the Navy and local officials.
The couple reportedly traveled from Flagstaff to spend a few days in Puerto Peñasco with family.
The names of the missing pair, reportedly a married couple in their 50s, has not been publicly released by officials. They are, however, being named on social media.
Police around the country are using a powerful but relatively inexpensive cellphone tracking tool to solve crimes. And in some cases, they have used it to track people without a search warrant. All mobile devices are assigned what's called an advertising identification number, a unique code that allows apps with location services to target consumers with promotions. For as little as $7,500 a year, Virginia-based Fog Data Science offers a service called Fog Reveal that uses that ad-ID to track a device's wanderings, when location services are enabled. Documents reviewed by The Associated Press show that Fog heavily markets its product to law enforcement. The company promotes what it calls a "pattern of life" analysis, which can stretch back months. Public records specialist Bennett Cyphers, an advisor with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, calls Fog Reveal "sort of a mass surveillance program on a budget." He and others believe police use of the platform without a warrant is a violation of people's Fourth Amendment rights. In a written response to The Associated Press, Fog said it cannot disclose information about its customers. The company said it does not access or have anything to do with personally identifiable information and is leveraging commercially available data. Arkansas prosecutor Kevin Metcalf says Fog simply uses data that people give away for free, and that it is most useful in cases where time is of the essence. Metcalf also leads the National Child Protection Task Force, a nonprofit that combats child exploitation and trafficking. Metcalf says Fog, which is listed as a task force sponsor, has been invaluable to cracking missing children cases and homicides. Metcalf also shared his Fog account in the 2020 search for a missing nurse. Documents reviewed by AP show it has been used by agencies as diverse as the U.S. Marshals and a sheriff's department in a North Carolina county with just 91,000 residents.
