own life. david mattingly is live in orange beach, alabama with his story. hello, david. reporter: this morning a lot of sadness in orange beach, alabama. he was just one fishing captain out of many on the alabama coast but now people are saying his death should serve as a warning. people who knew him say allen cruz lived to fish and those closest to him say that life unraveled when the oil spill hit the gulf waters where he work. he thought it was dead. he said that to you? yeah. reporter: and that there was no hoping the fishing was going to come back? not in his lifetime. reporter: cruz was a leader among charter boat fishing, drumming up business in good times and voicing the frustrations of a community in the bad times. today.
cruz. his business depended on the gulf but with the spill getting worse, his brothers say emotionally he took a big hit. cruz also took a turn for the worse and as we told you he committed suicide. without leaving a note on wednesday, he took his own life. on top of the economic and ecological effects of this disaster, what about its emotional toll? let s bring in dr. elmore rigamer, the director for catholic charities of new orleans. a very difficult subject to talk about. you are a professional obviously dealing with folks who have these issues. i guess earlier i described it as sort after post traumatic stress disorder. i don t know if that s accurate or not but it just feels like that. what are folks dealing with down there? can you put a diagnosis on it? well, think it s hard at this point post traumatic stress i think certainly we ll see that later but they do have a lot of stresses due to this trauma.
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
are you afraid maybe one of your other friends might be thinking about something extreme? sure. that s why we re trying to get the word out. reporter: as a gesture to the community that s now grieving for him, cruz s family thought it would be best for his boat to be brought back to home port in orange beach. here it is now, the rookie. his friends say there is no better way they could think of to pay tribute to a man who loved what did he for a living and loved the waters where he worked. it s the rookie s final voyage carrying a cargo of uncertainty and sorrow. reporter: and this is cruz s boat right here behind me. sitting as memorial to him. and a reminder, his friends and family say, that there is something wrong out here in this community. you don t know what to say, david. it is such a sad story. so many nice, hard working people down there in louisiana.
that life unraveled when the oil spill hit the gulf waters where he worked. he thought it was dead. yep. he said that to you? yep. and that there was no hope that the fishing was ever going to come back? not in his lifetime. reporter: cruz was a leader, drumming up business in good times. the fishing is going to be good all summer. reporter: and voicing the frustrations of a community in the bad times. the day that the oil entered the gulf, my phone quit ringing. reporter: a move month after that interview, he was found dead, self inflicted gunshot wound. 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? yes. that 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. she told me it was madness.