Hurricane Irene Delaware: Mystery of Two Men’s Deaths During Height of Storm

Hurricane Irene may have claimed at least two lives in the state of Delaware.

Two men who ventured out into the storm on Saturday night (and were subsequently reported as missing) were found dead on Monday afternoon.

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of Christopher Valentine and Jean Baptista, both 25, submerged in a tributary of Mill Creek in New Castle Country in the northernmost part of the state.

Valentine, from nearby Hockessin, and Baptista, from Clark, N. J., were both graduates of the local University of Delaware.

However, according to a report in the Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal, police investigators are still trying to determine why the men went outside on foot during the worst parts of the storm, but are not ready to blame their deaths on Irene.

New Castle County Corporal John Weglarz Sr. told the paper: Just how it happened that they end up in the creek, we don't know how exactly that happened.”

Police know that the two men were with socializing with friends on Saturday at Tyler Fitzgerald's Restaurant & Grille in the Shops at Limestone Hills.

Baptista subsequently left his car, a GMC Envoy, behind in Tyler Fitzgerald's parking lot and took a ride to another friend's home in Cameron Hills.

Prior to midnight on Saturday, Baptista and Valentine left Cameron Hills by foot headed toward the house of Valentine’s parents in Hockessin Greene – which was about two miles away.

Reportedly, they were able to send a text message to another friends saying they were caught in a hurricane. However, police have determined that the message was sent from a location that is more than five miles from the Cameron Hills home and in the opposite direction from the Valentine's residence.