Search Continues for Body of Officer Lost in Pohick Bay Training Exercise

Fairfax County police said yesterday that their search for a missing officer in Pohick Bay is now a "search and recovery operation," a tacit admission that after two days of round-the-clock operations, the officer is not likely to be found alive.

Lt. Francis J. Stecco, 42, had volunteered Tuesday to participate in a training exercise for the police helicopter unit, police said. He was wearing a dry suit when he disappeared about 2:45 p.m., while a helicopter hovered overhead. Members of the police dive team, marine patrol and Fairfax fire department also were present. Stecco was not a member of the dive team but had some diving training in the military, police said.

Rescue boats and divers from 10 jurisdictions, along with the FBI and Coast Guard, rushed into Pohick Bay, bordered by Mason Neck and Fort Belvoir in southeastern Fairfax. Those resources were augmented yesterday by dogs trained to detect human scent on the water, police said.

The Coast Guard also established a federal safety zone for next week that prohibits recreational boating in the bay, in Gunston Cove and the area of the Potomac River near the mouth of the cove. Commercial boaters will be allowed if they are mindful of the search and recovery efforts, police said.

Stecco, a 19-year veteran of the department, spent much of his career in the Mount Vernon district and most recently served as a supervisor in the Youth Services Division. He was married with three children.

Stecco was honored twice for heroism as a patrol officer. In 1999, he subdued a man with a knife and a razor blade who was bleeding and trying to kill himself.

In 1996, Stecco encountered a man sitting in a truck with a rifle on his lap who was a suspect in a shooting. Stecco broke the passenger-side window and, while facing the barrel of the rifle, entered the truck and took the gun. He was awarded a Bronze Medal of Valor by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.