Family recovers teen's body from Cabo
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/08/10/d4.or.bodyretur...
August 10, 2004
The Associated Press
PORTLAND - It took numerous phone calls, congressional intervention and payments of at least $10,000, but the body of a Salem boy killed in a
watercraft accident in Mexico has been returned to his family.
The remains of Austin Hakes, 14, arrived at Portland International Airport on Saturday and were taken to Salem.
"We are finally to the point where we can be at ease as much as can be expected," Hakes' stepfather, Mark Walen, said Sunday.
Hakes died Thursday while vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Baja Sur, Calif., with his father and stepmother.
Mexico would not let the family take the boy's body home without payment of at least $10,000 in fees and medical bills.
Hakes lived most of the time with his mother, Michelle Walen, and stepfather in Salem. His father, Scott Hakes, and stepmother, Julie, live in
Portland.
Scott Hakes said he was not ready to discuss the ordeal Sunday.
"Scott said he wants to tell the whole nation," Mark Walen said, "but he needs to take some time."
Returning a body to the United States can be a slow, expensive proposition and the costs must be paid by the family, American consular officials say.
In addition to a language problem, the family faced another hurdle after Austin Hakes' body left Mexico.
Customs at San Francisco International Airport would not send the body to Portland until Customs had someone in Portland to receive the body, which
would not have been until Monday.
Sandy Bright, the mother of Austin's girlfriend, made several phone calls.
The office of U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., worked with the Port of Portland to have an official there to receive Hakes' body.
"We just needed to get Austin home," Bright said.
A funeral will be held today.
"He was a good kid," Mark Walen said. "He had a heart for everyone." Hakes was to start South Salem High School in the fall.
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