This is such a tragic loss for the family, the community and those who loved Michael! What a wonderful young man he was. Those of us who knew him are so lucky to have had him in our lives, however briefly. I hope we all wrap our arms around our loved ones and send thoughts of love to Jan and Peter.

What a tremendous loss for his family and community.

I know that holiday boating accidents often involve alcohol. Was alcohol involved in this tragedy? Who is the other missing person?

Hmmm
You could have just omitted the second sentence !!

To Hmmm, who is not even a resident of this community:
Does alcohol involvement make this any less tragic? And why do you even care who the missing person is?
I agree with the Menlo parent (I too was a Menlo parent)) who expressed my feelings in a kinder way,
you could have omitted the 2nd sentence.

Guess what, those who prefer to deny the impact alcohol has in boating accidents? I'm a Menlo Park NATIVE and where I currently live doesn't matter. How dare you trot out snotty, insular attitudes in an attempt to point fingers at a legitimate question that has bearing on the issue. Not only am I a local, I'm also a boater. Why wouldn't I want to know more? Why wouldn't I want to know the name of the missing person?

To sort of answer your question: Alcohol makes boating accidents more tragic because its use is easily avoidable.

Now here are more questions for you: Why are you so defensive? Why is it that your assumption that I was questioning if the *victims* were drinking alcohol? Lastly - do you think that the results of the investigation won't be released to the public?

What I find sad is that this article focuses so much on the father. "He was the son of Peter Harris..." Wait, didn't he have a mother too? Apparently not, though later on, someone named Jan is identified as Peter's wife. Pathetic reporting job all around, still a tragedy.