By David SIngleton
The Times-Tribune
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Divers in Fairfax County, Va., on Saturday recovered the body of a Throop native who drowned in a bay off the Potomac River during police training earlier in the week.
Second Lt. Frank Stecco, 42, a highly decorated officer who had been with the Fairfax County Police Department for 19 years, disappeared Tuesday afternoon in Pohick Bay after volunteering to participate in a helicopter water rescue exercise, Fairfax County police said.
His uncle, Edward Stecco of Olyphant, described Lt. Stecco as a “fine young man” who spent four years in the Marine Corps after graduating from Mid Valley High School in 1984.
“He was fearless, and a gentleman,” Mr. Stecco said of his nephew. “I loved him to pieces.”
In a statement, Fairfax County police said Lt. Stecco’s “bold, proactive style of policing earned the respect and admiration of his peers and supervisors and helped distinguish him as a courageous and selfless officer.” Between 1994 and 2000, he earned three awards for valor for acts of bravery .
“My heart goes out to Frank’s family; my heart goes out to his police family, and my heart goes out to the community Frank worked in and loved,” said Col. David Rohrer, the Fairfax County police chief.
Divers found Lt. Stecco’s body about 100 feet from where he was last seen Tuesday.
Lt. Stecco joined the Fairfax County police in 1989 and spent most of his career assigned to the Mount Vernon District station. About a month ago, he joined the department’s Youth Services Division.
According to his uncle, Lt. Stecco’s survivors include his wife, Julie, and their three children, Maria, Nicholas and Alexander, of Manassas, Va.; his mother, Lorraine Stecco of Throop; and his sister, Dr. Kathryn Stecco of San Jose, Calif. The officer’s father, former Throop Mayor John J. Stecco, died in August.
Funeral services have not been set.
Copyright 2008 The Times-Tribune