A man whose body was discovered in Grasmere Lake in Washington Park on March 31 has been identified as Brian Wichek, a longtime United Airlines employee.
Coroner’s spokeswoman Michelle Weiss-Samaras said an autopsy on the 37-year-old Wichek has been completed, but the cause and manner of death are expected to be determined after more tests.
Burt Wichek said that his older brother Brian worked for United Airlines in customer service for about 12 years, transferring to Denver in 2000. He left the company in July 2008, anticipating a furlough, family members said.
“He had a great sense of humor. He’d take the shirt off his back for you. He had no enemies,” Burt Wichek said.
Brian moved from Denver to Raleigh, N.C., then returned last May.
Washington Park was one of Wichek’s favorite places, his brother said.
He said the coroner’s office told him his brother’s body might have been in the lake as long as eight weeks, frozen for much of that time.
Brian Wichek joined the U.S. Army after high school and was stationed in Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. A service and burial is planned for April 16 at Fort Logan National Cemetery.
