(CHARLOTTEOBSERVER) Daniel Scott Lasky’s wish was to be buried at sea.
So when the 48-year-old Hickory man died this month of Lou Gehrig’s disease, his family followed his request.
They put his body on dry ice, drove from North Carolina to South Florida, chartered a boat, said their goodbyes and released him to the sea, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
But a day later, Lasky’s body floated to the surface.
A local fisherman spotted it Saturday about 41/2 miles offshore near Port Everglades, the sheriff’s office said. He called for help, setting in motion an investigation into who was the person and how did he end up in the Atlantic Ocean.
They found their answers in Hickory.
That’s where Lasky lived with his wife, Sharon. He worked at a local Galaxy food store and had a part-time job with Nabisco, according to his obituary in the Hickory Daily Record.
On Dec. 18, 2009, he had his “celebration of life” at Augustana Lutheran Church in Hickory, the obituary read.
He died about nine months later, on Sept. 8, at home. The obituary said, “Burial will be at sea.”
The day after his death, his family began the drive south, stopping overnight in Daytona Beach before arriving in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
That day, Sharon Lasky, a pastor and a few other family members boarded the Mary B III, along with the boat’s captain, crew and Daniel Lasky’s body, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
After their goodbyes, they went fishing in his honor and returned to shore.
The next morning, a fisherman found the body floating and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard.
Reached at their homes Tuesday night, Lasky’s wife and brother declined to comment.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies are conferring with the U.S. Coast Guard before they decide whether any burial laws were violated.
Although burying a body at sea is legal, certain rules must be followed.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, human beings who are not cremated must be buried at least 3 nautical miles from land in water at least 600 feet deep.
And, said the EPA, measures must be taken to make sure the body sinks to the bottom “rapidly and permanently.”
