ATLANTA — A man known for playing his bagpipes at events around Atlanta died in a scuba diving incident while on vacation in Hawaii.
If that’s not tragic enough, when his family went to his home to settle his affairs, they found skeletal remains believed to be their missing brother.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones talked to a man who said he’s been friends with Henry Frantz Jr. for more than 50 years.
“We’ve been friends for so long,” Leonard E. Wood said. “I’m the godfather for one of his daughters.”
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They also were a part of the Atlanta Pipe Band, of which Frantz was a founding member. The 74-year-old Frantz was well known for playing his bagpipes at events all around Atlanta for years.
“Henry just saw them, heard them, liked them,” Wood remembered.
Police in Maui, Hawaii say Frantz was killed March 10 during a scuba diving incident.
Wood says it’s a huge loss, not just for Frantz’s family but for the community as well.
“He will be sadly missed by the piping community in Atlanta and other places,” Wood said.
Six days after Frantz’s death, Decatur police say family members located skeletal remains in a treehouse at Frantz’s home.
Wood says one of Frantz’s daughters told him it was her 28-year-old brother, Hank, who had been missing for four years.
“Terrible tragedy. I can’t imagine. Hank was a young man,” Wood said.
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An investigator with the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office said it’s probably Hank, but he said they’re still trying to confirm his identity. He also said he doesn’t have a cause of death and doesn’t suspect foul play.
Wood said Frantz was a great man. He said he didn’t know much about his son.
“All I know is he was a good kid, and that was an awful shock,” he said.
Police in Maui continue to investigate Frantz’s death.
Jones reached out to Frantz’s daughters but didn’t hear back.
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