A tourist traveled to Argentina earlier this year and vanished during her scuba diving lessons in Puerto Madryn. The diving instructor, who was leading a group of seven divers, has been charged with her death.
Criminal Charges
Thiago Nahuel Pocovi, 26, was criminally charged with manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Sofia Devries, who disappeared for two days before her body was found in southern Argentina on February 16, 2026.
Pocovi was guiding a group of divers seeking to advance their scuba certification at a site in Golfo Nuevo known as the underwater park by the Hu Shun Yu 809 artificial reef. The site is considered very popular amongst divers and was created in 2017 when a fishing vessel was purposefully sunk to create a marine life habitat.
Diver Gone Missing
Devries and her boyfriend were members of the group and were allegedly diving in poor visibility conditions without any supervision.
Devries showed signs of distress and was scrambling to pull off her breathing regulator when tragedy struck. She was known for her adventurous travels and frequently shared updates about them on her social media.
Prosecutor Alex Williams alleges that Devries suffered from a medical emergency as she ascended in the dive. Her partner attempted to assist, but was unsuccessful at bringing her to the surface. Other members of the scuba diving group began searching for her but were unable to locate her.
Devries’ body was found two days later by a specialized team of divers around 82 feet below surface level. Prosecutors argued that Pocovi allegedly violated the professional diving instructor’s safety protocols and regulations.
Court Hearing
When Pocovi appeared for his virtual court hearing from Buenos Aires, he did not offer a statement of defense. Judge Marcela Pérez Bogado opened an official criminal investigation on Monday, July 6, 2026. Prosecutors are conducting a thorough investigation into Devries’ death to determine if they have enough evidence to bring the case to trial.
In order for the prosecution to stick the manslaughter charges, they typically need to show causation and how the defendant’s actions directly caused or impacted the victim’s death.
In this situation, it would most likely be considered involuntary manslaughter, which means they have to prove the scuba diving instructor was negligent or reckless in their behavior at the time of the incident.
Scuba Diving Incidents
Devries’ disappearance is not an uncommon occurrence amongst the diving community. This incident occurred months before a separate group of five Italian scuba divers went on a deep-water dive in a Maldives cave and died 200 feet below the surface. Most of the group lacked proper cave-diving equipment and were declared missing on May 14, 2026.
According to Diver Magazine, 100 scuba diver deaths occur each year in North America alone, and 100 more deaths throughout the rest of the world. It is considered a high-risk activity, but statistically safer than skydiving, whose deaths average 1 in 100,000 jumps, compared with 2 in 100,000 dives.
They say that there are typically three stages of diving fatalities. At first, an event triggers the incident, such as a new diver’s face mask getting bumped, and it floods with water. Second, a disabling or harmful event occurs, such as the diver with their mask filling panics, rightfully so.
Lastly, a disabling injury occurs. In this instance, the water fills up the diver’s lungs, rupturing them or causing an arterial gas embolism. In this situation, the diver can quickly die as a result of the restricted blood flow to the brain, or they are likely to drown because they become unconscious.
