he said that to you. >> yeah. >> and that there was no hoping that the fishing was ever going to come back. >> not in his lifetime. >> reporter: among charter boat chantens here, cruz was a leader. drumming up business all the time and voicing the frustrations after community in the bad times. >> the day that the ill entered the gulf my phone quit ringing. >> reporter: just a month after that interview, cruz was found on his boat dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. for 14 days he worked for bp hauling boom and looking for oil. his brothers say he felt like his role in the clean-up as a bp vessel of opportunity was worthless. >> that's what he told you? he felt like he was being put out there just for show? >> yes. that's what he told his wife. didn't tell me that. that's what he told his wife. that's what she told me just a while ago. >> he told me it was madness. >> reporter: cruz's friends tell me he felt overwhelmed by the