Pirates, Preachers, and Poteen Makers — Gene Wright

Jerry Valdez, Sheriff of Kendall County, Texas, is looking forward to a vacation when an old friend, Gwen Wilber, whom he had not seen in many years, visits him to insist that he find her son, missing with three other young people for a month on a sailing trip in the Caribbean. Jerry argues that the Coast Guard is the proper agency to look for the missing yacht, but Gwen tells him that they have looked, found no trace, and have suspended their active search. She insists that Jerry find her son. Jerry reluctantly follows the faint trail to Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay, and to the jungles of Colombia. He receives no official help from the American Embassy officials in Colombia as he follows vague leads up the Magdalina River looking for four young people he doesnââ,¬â"¢t know and is not sure are still alive.