Christopher Rivas, along with a friend, both fishermen from a small town in the Philippines—Barobo in the province of Surigao del Sur—were fishing together nearly 40 miles from the coast when they spotted a 40-foot long yacht,named SAYO, off the coast at around 3 to 4:30 pm on Thursday. February 25. The first thing they noted was that the yacht’s sail was broken.
The cadaver, which was found near the boat’s radio telephone belongs to Manfred Fritz Bajorat, 59. It is yet unclear how long Mr. Bajorat had been missing but sightings of him have not been reported since 2009.
His remains had not decomposed. It seemed that he had been preserved or “mummified”. Fortunately, it was still easy to identify Bajorat due to documents, as well as photos.
Bajorat, whose body was discovered by the two fishermen, wrote a thirty two word memorium to his beloved wife Claudia, who died from cancer aged 53 on May 2, 2010. “Thirty years we’ve been together on the same path. Then the power of the demons was stronger than the will to live. You’re gone. May your soul find its peace. Your Manfred, ‘it read.
The fishermen related that they found Bajorat’s mummified form close to the radio telephone. He seemed to have been in a sitting position. To them, it looked like he had been trying to make a call or in the middle of a call when he died.
Dr. Mark Benecke, a forensic criminologist in the Germany City of Cologne, told BILD newspaper: “The way he is sitting seems to indicate that death was unexpected, perhaps from heart attack.
Perhaps, one of the last people to see Bajorat was a sailor, who was chosen to be identified only as Dieter. Mr. Dieter told BILD newspaper that Bajorat was an “experienced sailor.” He said: “I don’t believe he would sailed into a storm. I believed the mast broke after Manfred was already dead.”
Police were later brought in to take a look at the rest of the yacht. They saw cans of food, clothes, and even photo albums thrown about. Reports said that it was not immediately clear how long Bajorat had been dead and what killed him.
Goldie Lou Siega, a police spokeswoman could only state, “We have no evidence of a second person aboard and no weapon was found on the yacht. Only one thing was evident: The high salt content of the ocean air and the intense heat from the sun helped preserved his body. The authorities have already taken his body to a city that has necessary facilities for an autopsy. Their initial theory was that Bajorat may have died from a heart attack.
The German Embassy in Manila, has been notified and is now working on locating Mr. Bajorat’s family in Germany. He is believed to have a daughter named Nina, who works as the captain of a freight vessel.
Source: DailyMail
