Mystery of beached cross may be solved

A heavenly visitor descended on the sands of Fort Lauderdale’s Ocean Manor Beach Resort — with a little help from man.

A 20-foot wooden cross, encrusted with barnacles and other signs of sea life, washed ashore in waters lapping the resort and was carried onto the property sands by tourists.

Days later, people were still speculating on the origins of the religious symbol.

On Wednesday afternoon, Robin Stowe called the Miami Herald to shed some light on the mysterious arrival.

The cross, Stowe said, was erected as a memorial to her brother, Capt. Richard Baran, who disappeared while on a solo hunting trip in the Hatteras Inlet in North Carolina in January 2016. The Coast Guard suspended its search after covering 33 miles over eight hours.

“I think it might be my brother’s cross from the Hatteras in North Carolina,” Stowe said. “A bunch of his friends went out there and Capt. Aaron Aaron built that cross and put it on the island.” (Yes, Aaron’s surname and first name are one and the same.)

In April 2016, she said Aaron and the group put the cross up on Dredge Island not far from where Baran’s boat was found with his hunting gear still on board.

Putting that cross up as a memorial, she said, “was a labor of love and means a lot to us. We’d love to get it back.”

She believes Hurricane Nate, which brought winds and rains to the Cape Hatteras region in October 2017, may have swept the cross off Dredge Island and that it’s been at sea ever since.

Aaron confirms her account. The spate of news reports since it turned up Saturday in Fort Lauderdale came to their attention when people called Stowe and Aaron because they recognized his handiwork on the cross.

Aaron said he built the cross in about an hour’s time and brought it to the island by boat where a group of 20 or so friends celebrated Baran’s life.

“The reason I know it is [the cross] is I built it and notched it and can see the eye bolts and that it’s set off to one side,” Aaron said. “It’s the cross — 100 percent.”

The resort’s owner, Frank Talerico, told the Miami Herald on Thursday that there have been many claims on the cross.

“We have received many, many people claiming ownership,” he said in an email response. “If they can 100-percent prove it’s their cross, we would gladly give it back to its rightful owner. Until then, it belongs to The Ocean Manor Beach Resort.”

In addition to the craftsmanship and design, Aaron said many of the friends signed messages on the cross with Sharpie pens but he realizes that all of these missives would likely be lost under the barnacles and saltwater during its long journey.

“We would love to see the cross come back to Hatteras. We set it up as a memorial. It was such a big ordeal when we never found him and he died at sea and that’s why this is so important,” Aaron said.

Baran, 47, ran a guide service at Hatteras Harbor Marina at the time. Aaron, a charter boat captain, was Baran’s former business partner and a friend.

Stowe said she reached out to Telerico after seeing his name in news reports but had yet to hear back from him.

If they get the go-ahead, Aaron said several charter captains in the area are prepared to bring the cross back to North Carolina where it will be put back up.