2 Men Who Died In Stamford Boating Incident Identified

STAMFORD, CT — The two men who died Easter Sunday after their boat capsized in the Long Island Sound near Stamford have been identified.

According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP), the two victims has been identified as 25-year-old Cristofer Cifuentes, and 40-year-old Ludyn Cifuentes, both of New York. Two other men were rescued and survived.

Around 10:21 a.m. Sunday, rescuers responded to a report of a small boat in distress just off Shippan Point in Stamford. First responders were hampered in finding the boat's exact location due to a language barrier and conflicting initial reports of the boat's last known location, according to Deputy Chief Matt Palmer of the Stamford Fire Department.

Fire dispatchers at the Stamford Emergency Communication's Center were able to use the caller's cell phone number to access the Carbyne 911 cellular tracking software to pinpoint the last known location of the boat.

The Carbyne software pointed fire and police rescue boats to the correct area, where debris believed to be from the boat was found in the water, the SFD said.

First responders found the four men in three to four-foot swells in 40 degree water. The Stamford Police Department said Monday all four were wearing life jackets. Two of the men pulled from the water were unconscious and unresponsive, and the other two were both semi-responsive, the SFD said.

The men were taken to awaiting ambulances — three of them went to Stamford Hospital, the other went to Norwalk Hospital.

Two of the men later died after lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful, the SFD said.

A GoFundMe was created by Sharon Carmona, who was married to one of the victims, to help with funeral costs and to send the men back to their native Guatemala to be buried.

Carmona explained in the description that her husband, uncle-in-law and her husband's brother-in-law went fishing on Easter, but there were heavy winds and cold temperatures.

"Sadly, the boat flipped over and hit my husband in the head; he could have saved his life, but he decided to save his brother's life with the remaining minutes he had. Sadly both my husband and my uncle-in-law remained in critical condition, went to the hospital and in a short amount of time in the emergency room, both passed away," Carmona said. " The donations will be used for funeral costs & sending them back to their country to be buried. Anything helps, and I'll appreciate it from the bottom of my heart!"

Over $3,600 has been raised in a day.

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