The Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity is mourning the death of one of their own. Francis Cote, the father of former University of Florida student, Jonathan Cote has confirmed on his website that a body found in Iraq belongs to his son. President of the Sig Ep Fraternity, Matt Sloan says Cote's fraternity brothers are glad to finally have some closure.Link to article is here
Our hearts go out to the Cote family and the brothers of FL Alpha.
By DIANA MOSKOVITZMissing UF student's body possibly found in Iraq - 04/21/2008 - MiamiHerald.com
dmoskovitz@MiamiHerald.com
The body of a former University of Florida student may have been found in Iraq, according to an online posting by his father.
Jonathon Cote of Getzville, N.Y., had been missing since November 2006, when he was one of five men abducted while in a convoy near the southern Iraqi town of Safwan, near the Kuwaiti border.
[...]
''We were visited today by U.S. officials today who told us that a sixth body has been recovered in the Basra area of southern Iraq,'' Cote's father, Francis Cote, wrote on Saturday on the website home.freecote.com.
[...]In Gainesville, the news was bittersweet, said UF student Matt Sloan, 21, who pledged the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity in the fall of 2005 with Cote.
Sloan went on to become fraternity president. Cote stayed at UF then headed for Iraq.
Two weeks before his capture, Cote e-mailed Sloan saying he would be back home in December and wanted to move into the fraternity's house.
Sloan said his friend asked him to ''save me a spot.'' Then he disappeared.
''On the one hand, we're holding out hope he is alive and will return safe and sound,'' Sloan said. ``And on the other hand, we want closure.''
