Skip to main content

Body Found on Beach Was Missing Kayaker

Mon, 11/28/2022 - 15:01
Police released this photo of Dario Cholula after he went missing on Oct. 19.

A body that washed up on the beach at the Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island on Nov. 8 has been identified by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office as Dario Cholula. 

Mr. Cholula, a 31-year-old Queens man who was working on a construction site in North Haven, went missing on Oct. 19 during a solo nighttime kayak fishing trip. He had launched the kayak almost directly across from where his body was eventually found. 

His body victim was discovered at Smith Cove, a popular deep-water anchorage in the summer season. The cove is located on the preserve’s southwest side, across the water from North Haven. 

The body was sent to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office, which notified the Southampton Town Police Department late last week that it had positively identified it as that of Mr. Cholula. 

“Although it was not the outcome we were hoping for, it provided closure for the family,” Lt. Susan Ralph, a Southampton Town Police spokeswoman, said via email.

The kayak that Mr. Cholula was fishing from had been discovered on a North Haven beach on Oct. 20, partially overturned and with a fishing pole inside it. 

Charged in String of Break-Ins

A 33-year-old led town police on a brief pursuit late Sunday night before they caught up with him. He faces several charges.

Oct 29, 2026

Two Injured in Accidents

A driver who collided with a tree near the Whalebone Village complex on the afternoon of Oct. 19 was later charged with drunken driving. 

Oct 29, 2026

On the Police Logs 10.22.26

A man was buying a newspaper last week in Sag Harbor, he told police, when someone came up behind him and grabbed “his pectoral area and nuzzled his ear.”

Oct 22, 2026

On the Police Logs 10.15.26

Two women stole a pumpkin from a bench outside Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett Saturday. 

Oct 15, 2026

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.