Loved ones search for missing fisherman

JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va - A few boaters slowly, intently moved through the York River Friday.

Water gently slapped against the ramp at Croaker Landing. The sound was peaceful, the sight serene.

Then a small plane whizzed through the air.

In the midst of serenity there is an intense desire on the river's banks. Angela Whitehead described that desire as, "Closure, to have him rest in peace."

Whitehead's dad, Arthur Brooks disappeared 15 days ago.

"It's almost like you're in a dream. You don't know if it's real or not," she said. "He was loving. He loved family and just loved to be in the water. Loved his grandchildren, loved his children."

Brooks, 77 and his friend Al Madison, 63 were in a fishing boat during rough seas in the York River on March 4. Despite a massive search effort, both men were presumed drowned.

Crews found Madison's body after a few days. Brooks' relatives and friends still go to the river every day.

"We thought we would have gotten him the same day. We were hoping, but it didn't happen that way," Whitehead said.

Barbara Lucas referred to Brooks as her "fish man." For nearly 15 years Brooks drove by her home on Croaker Road and brought fish and good cheer.

"He was a jolly old man," she said. "He would make you happy. He would talk smack, you know, and talk about the fish mostly."

"I'd known him from coming out here fishing," said Jack Hughes. "Been fishing here for 40 years... We came here yesterday and we helped search along the river but we couldn't find anything."

Hughes sat with his wife, their feet dangled off the ramp. After a pause he shared while he held on to his binoculars and scanned the water.

"See, it's a personal thing. You feel close to a person that falls in the water," he said. "He's a fisherman, I'm a fisherman. Her daddy was a fisherman, you know we just love the water."

Crews from the Virginia Marine Resource Commission, and strangers from Croaker, are also looking, so Brooks' family can move forward.

Bob Austin said, "I don't know them personally, but I mean - we're neighbors and we use the river. They live off of it, I enjoy it."

Whitehead hope others will be on the lookout, too. She said, "We would like to just have more eyes this weekend, being the first pretty weekend that people can get out."

Whitehead explained, "I just want the closure to see him brought to shore. Just to have it all over with so we can go on and know that it's done. Then we can start our grieving process."

Brooks was wearing an orange slicker when his boat capsized on the York River. Anyone who notices something in the water should call 911, or Virginia Marine Police at 1-800-541-4646.