J'aimee Huret and Desi Deschaine aboard Huret's boat, My 401(k), in May. After spending eight hours out on the Chesapeake Bay aboard his boyfriend’s 44-foot boat, Desi Deschaine decided to take a walk, according to J’aime Huret, who owned the boat.
Huret said that Deschaine, whom he’s been dating for several months, went out onto the dock at Baltimore’s Lighthouse Point Marina about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
“Next thing you know, he vanished,” Huret said.
Huret said there were about 10 people on the boat, My 401(k), at the time and nobody expressed concern.
He said Deschaine had many friends at the marina and he figured his boyfriend had simply crashed on one of the other boats.
“We had no alarm,” Huret said.
But the next morning, after Huret’s alarm clock went off at 6:30 a.m. without Deschaine reappearing, he got worried.
He said Deschaine is “very dedicated to his job” and would have wanted to get going to Washington in time to arrive on schedule.
So Huret made the rounds at the marina, looking for Deschaine.
“I searched and searched the marina,” Huret said, without success.
At that point, he said, he phoned the police.
Later Monday, a Baltimore police sonar unit located Deschaine’s body underwater, not far from the boat.
Huret said he was told that Deschaine was fully clothed and showed no signs of bruising or broken ropes. He said he’s not sure what happened to Deschaine, that he apparently just fell in the water and drowned.
Huret said that Deschaine’s parents and sister from Bristol came down. They are understandably upset, he said.
He said that a funeral is planned in Bristol, but details are not yet ironed out.
Huret said that his relationship with Deschaine brought them both “pure joy” and that he will never forget his friend’s “spirit, drive, passion and energy.”
Huret said that Deschaine’s passion after politics “was fun and sun on the water. I am truly blessed that I had the opportunity with our eight guests to enjoy an incredibly beautiful day on the Chesapeake Bay together” on their final day.
“What an extraordinary lasting memory,” Huret said.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
7 comments:
Steve - When this news item runs its course, I'd be interested to know how many gay-bashing, homophobic comments you have to delete and or reject. It will probably be eye-opening to see the extent of anti-gay sentiment in Bristol. My fear is that there will be too many to count, given the usual tone of the posts that actually make it through your editing. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised.
Desi -- you will be missed bro. Loved working with you and having you as my friend. Everyone in Bristol and environs should know how beloved you were in DC. Thank you for being with us, however too too short it was. Love you and peace always! Jeff
I agree with anonymous...I cringe to imagine how much ignorant, hateful, hypocritical and cruel crap you will have to wade through while reporting and coping with the death of this person.
My heart goes out to his friends and family.
Desi was one of the brightest lights this earth has ever seen. I am so saddend by his passing but now encouraged to do more for this city in his name. To Linda, and Phil and Desiree, I can only tell you how much Desi touched me and my heart, which is so broken now. May we all cherish the moments he help to brighten, I love you and miss you so much already....gone to soon! Barrie
So far at least, there haven't been any gay-bashing comments. And I don't expect any.
Desi was a wonderful young man. I had fallen out of touch with him since high school, but I'm pleased to learn that he continued to be devoted to community service and civic participation. It is a terrible shame that he died so young in life. He had tremendous potential and I know he would have done a lot of good for a lot of people in this world. That's just what he was like. He was truly a ray of sunshine.
God bless him and his family. Although I know they are suffering, I hope that they may take comfort in the fact that his life, although short, was bright and meaningful. He will be truly missed!
Giving all honor to God who obviously loved Desi more than we ever could on Earth...My thoughts and prayers are with Desi's family and my friend, J'aime, who must be a wreck over this shocking tragedy! Desi, thanks for the wonderful conversation we shared at Red Rock days before your demise - Rest in Peace.
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