Search underway in Belize for missing Prescott woman

A Prescott woman has been reported missing while vacationing with her boyfriend in Belize.

Alison MacKenzie, 43, was on a catamaran tour off the coast of Belize when she disappeared Saturday morning, Jan. 18, said Cherie MacKenzie, Alison’s mother.

Cherie was told that Alison was last seen by her boyfriend, 58-year-old Paige Rote, Friday night while they were camping with a group of other tourists on a very small island called Rendezvous Caye.

According to multiple newspapers in Belize, including The Reporter and Amandala, Rote told Belize authorities that when he woke up Saturday morning, MacKenzie was nowhere to be found.

“They’re doing searches,” Cherie said Monday morning. “So far, they haven’t come up with anything. We’re afraid she somehow ended up in the ocean and is gone.”

The United States Embassy is assisting with the investigation, Cherie said.

Cherie’s been told that if her daughter can’t be found by the end of Monday, then the coast guard in Belize will likely call off the search.

Alison has lived in Prescott since 1998. She has two grown children.

Sgt. Gary Novak with the Prescott Police Department said since the incident originated in and so far appears to be contained to Belize, local authorities don’t have any jurisdiction over the matter.

“Unless for some reason [federal authorities] came to us and said something happened in Prescott that we need to investigate, it’s kind of out of our hands,” Novak said.

Follow Max Efrein on Twitter @mefrein, email him at mefrein@prescottaz.com or call him at 928-445-3333 ext. 1105.