Heinz wants to find the man who survived nearly a month at sea with nothing but ketchup and seasonings to help him buy a new boat

Heinz is on the lookout for individuals to assist the corporate discover a treasure – but it surely’s not gold. After they discovered {that a} man survived practically a month at sea with nothing however ketchup and seasonings, the corporate mentioned it desires to seek out him to assist him purchase a brand new boat. 

However to date, they have not been capable of finding him. 

In a digital message in a bottle, the corporate put out a request for help on Instagram final week. 

“To whoever finds this message, we want your assist monitoring down an incredible man with an incredible story. You might keep in mind Elvis Francois because the courageous sailor who survived on nothing however ketchup and spices whereas adrift at sea for twenty-four days. Nicely, Heinz desires to have fun his protected return residence and assist him purchase a brand new boat…however we can not seem to discover him,” the corporate mentioned. 

Francois, 47, was engaged on his boat in St. Maarten in December when he unintentionally began drifting out to sea. The climate had instantly modified, and he mentioned in a video launched by the Colombian Navy, who rescued him, that he had misplaced his capability to navigate. 

“I attempted to [go] again to port, however I misplaced monitor as a result of it took me some time to mount the sail and repair the sail,” he mentioned. “…I name my pals, my coworkers. They tried to contact me, however they misplaced service. There was nothing else I may do than sit down and wait.” 

He wrote out the phrase “assist” on the again of his boat, and he was finally rescued – after 24 days with nothing however “a bottle of ketchup…garlic powder and Maggi [soup].” 

A number of days in the past, the corporate mentioned its search had “reached an deadlock.” To date, they mentioned, they’ve reached out to the federal government of Dominica, the place Francois lives, in addition to the Colombian Navy to try to discover out the place he could also be and the way they’ll get in contact with him. 

“We’re setting this message adrift into the ocean of the web, as a result of if anybody may also help us discover him, it is you,” the corporate mentioned. “In case you or anybody you already know may also help us get involved with Elvis Francois, please drop us a DM.” 

In an announcement to CBS Information on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Heinz mentioned that they need to “reward” Francois a “new state-of-the-art boat.” That boat, they mentioned, will probably be “outfitted with full navigational know-how to keep away from one other catastrophe sooner or later.”

They mentioned that it is at the moment a world effort, with Heinz markets “around the globe” getting concerned. 

“We’re hoping to unfold the phrase far and extensive so Heinz can lastly reward the brand new boat to Elvis,” the corporate mentioned.