Brantford police officer dies in Cuba
Mark Stachurski died during an island excursion while on vacation; cause is under investigation
It was billed as a trip to an island paradise. And it was Mark Stachurski’s last.
The 56-year-old veteran of the Brantford Police Service and father of two was found lifeless on the tiny and uninhabited Cuban island of Cayo Saetia on March 19.
Ariena Ovens, a spokeswoman for Club Amigo allinclusive resort in Guardalavaca where Stachurski was staying, explained some of the circumstances surrounding his death in a phone interview.
Stachurski and about 30 others went on the trip to the island for snorkelling, lunch and walks on the beach. When the guests regrouped on shore at the end of the day, he was missing. A search party found him dead on a reef at about 3 p.m. and called police.
Toronto-based Sunwing confirmed Stachurski travelled to Cuba this month. “As the circumstances of his death are still under investigation, we do not have any further information to share,” said spokeswoman Jacqueline Grossman by email.
Stachurski once worked in the community and youth services section for Brantford police.
As a DARE officer, he encouraged high school students to say no to drugs.
Stachurski had one of the hardest days of his career on March 18, 2006. He was among the first police officers at the scene of the murder of 8-year-old Brantford boy Jared Osidacz, who was stabbed to death by his father.
Stachurski later testified at an inquest that he found the boy bleeding from the neck on the landing of a stairway, the Brantford Expositor reported.
“In all my years of policing, this was the most horrific incident I’ve seen,” he told the local newspaper.
In 1996, his police work took him undercover. He participated in a sting to catch a Toronto police officer suspected of stealing money from drunks.
Stachurski posed as a drunk and lay down in a bus shelter in southwest Parkdale carrying bottles of vodka and a gym bag stuffed with $1,375 cash and Polish currency.
The sting landed the Toronto offi- cer in jail for a day and earned him six months’ probation.
A Brantford police news release was silent on the cause of Stachurski’s death.
“Mark was a dedicated officer with a huge heart and endless amounts of compassion. He will be missed,” Chief Geoff Nelson said in a statement.
It was Stachurski’s boyhood dream to become a police officer, his family said in the news release.
“A passionate, caring man, Mark devoted his life to family; and he had two families whom he loved,” they wrote.
“First and foremost, he was a dedicated father and family man and there was nothing Mark would not do for those he loved and kept dear to his heart. Words cannot describe the tremendous loss we feel.
“Another part of his heart was filled with love and commitment for his brothers and sisters whom he worked alongside at the Brantford Police Service.”
Stachurski’s family declined to comment further.
Global Affairs Canada confirmed the death of a Canadian citizen in Cuba, but said nothing more to protect their privacy.