(The following article by Bob Purvis was posted on the Arizona Daily Star website on December 1.)
TUCSON — A body found floating in the Gulf of California has been positively identified as Mark Brinke, one of five Tucson men lost at sea in late October.
A fisherman found Brinke’s body on Nov. 19 floating 5 miles offshore and 10 miles north of Isla Angel, or Angel Island, which is about 80 miles southwest of Puerto Peñasco, according to Brinke family friend John Eckhoff.
The family was contacted by the U.S. Consulate Nov. 23 and told that the body, which was close in height to three of the missing men, might be Brinke’s. The family confirmed the body was his last week.
Autopsy results indicate Brinke drowned, Eckhoff said.
Brinke’s body was transported to Ensenada, Mexico, where it was cremated. The Brinke family picked up the ashes in San Diego Sunday.
The discovery of the body brought a melancholy closure to Brinke’s family, Eckhoff said.
“The family was disappointed. . . . In a way they had probably hoped we would find all those guys alive,” Eckhoff said.
“Deep inside we know they are gone, but when you are talking about family and friends you always hope for the best.”
Brinke, a 47-year-old contractor, disappeared along with four other men on Oct. 25 when they never returned from a weekend fishing trip.
Hundreds turned out for Brinke’s memorial services earlier this month.
The only other fisherman’s body to be found was that of Joshua Howard, 21, which was discovered Nov. 2, floating about 17 miles southwest of Puerto Peñasco.