ATLANTA, Ga. (WANF/Gray News) – A man from Atlanta, Georgia recently died while scuba diving in Hawaii. In a bizarre twist, his family made a gruesome discovery a few days later at his home.
Henry Frantz Jr. earned the unofficial title of “bagpiper of Decatur” through years of performing at city gatherings, according to Decaturish.
Frantz died on March 10. He was 74.
The family went to his Garden Lane home on March 16 to settle his affairs and found a skeleton inside a backyard treehouse, Decatur Police Lt. John Bender said.
His daughter, Rebecca Frantz Culpepper, confirmed that the skeleton was the remains of her brother, Henry Doyle Colon Frantz, who had been missing for four years. He was 28 when he went missing, Culpepper said.
“He left home one day, and he apparently came back,” Culpepper said.
Police in Maui are investigating Henry Frantz’s death, and the DeKalb Medical Examiner is investigating his son’s death, but foul play is not suspected in either case, Culpepper said. The Maui Police Department spokesperson declined to comment, saying the incident remains under investigation.
DeKalb Medical Examiner Chief Deputy Investigator Jess Dillard said, “We are working on confirmation of his identification at this time.”
“We are pretty certain we have his identity, just waiting on dental or DNA,” he said. “The remains were skeletonized. No obvious signs of injury or trauma.”
Frantz was a founding member of the Atlanta Pipe Band, which was formed in 1970. The band has performed for dignitaries such as Presidents Carter and Bush, Prince Charles, Mikhail Gorbachev and the Dalai Lama.
“His dedication, kindness, and high standards inspired generations of pipers,” The Pipe Band wrote in a post on social media. “Beyond music, Henry’s curiosity led him to travel the world, explore fossils, and pursue scuba diving. He will be deeply missed but never forgotten.”
This story was originally published in Decaturish, a media partner of Atlanta News First.
Copyright 2025 WANF via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Decaturish contributed to this report.