Michele Sensi-Contugi, an Italian-born Ecuadorian businessman and government official who led Ecuador’s intelligence agency, died Aug. 19, 2026, at 44 when a safari helicopter crashed in Kenya’s Samburu County, Primicias reported.
His wife, Stephany Hollihan, also died in the crash. The Associated Press reported that the couple were visiting Kenya as tourists. The helicopter was flying from the Loisaba Conservancy toward the Ewaso Nyiro area when it crashed near Mount Ololokwe. It carried six passengers and one pilot, and Kenyan police said all seven people aboard were killed.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said an investigation was underway, and authorities had not disclosed the cause of the crash. Search-and-recovery crews worked in difficult terrain while a fire remained active at the site.
Before joining the government, Sensi-Contugi owned and managed businesses in Guayaquil. From 2008, he was the sole shareholder of Senco and Sensistudio and held management roles at both companies. Primicias reported that he was also one of the principal financial backers of Daniel Noboa’s presidential campaign.
In January 2024, President Daniel Noboa appointed Sensi-Contugi director general of the Centro de Inteligencia Estratégica, Ecuador’s strategic intelligence center. Two months later, he also became the president’s permanent delegate to the board of EP Petroecuador, Ecuador’s state oil company.
On April 21, 2024, Noboa appointed Sensi-Contugi minister of government while he continued to oversee the intelligence center in an acting capacity. His ministerial service ended in August, when he returned to the intelligence post as director general. The agency was renamed the National Intelligence Center in July 2025, and he remained its director until his death.
