A yoga teacher who vanished after he set out for a blind date last month has been found dead.
The body of Marcus Freiberger, 45, was discovered at a rock quarry in Phoenix, about 6 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, on March 19 — nearly one month after the scheduled date, AZ Family reported.
His sister, Tina Hall, broke the news of her brother’s death on Tuesday.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the tragic news that Marcus is no longer with us,” Tina wrote. “We thank all of you for the love and support you have given Marcus and our family.”
The Medical Examiner identified Marcus’ body on Monday.
A friend of Marcus said the medical examiner’s office needed to ID him using fingerprints through the FBI’s database.
His case is considered a death investigation, police said, and his cause of death is still pending.
Marcus had been missing since going to a blind date on February 21.
Friends quickly realized something was wrong when they found that Thomas, Marcus’ beloved 2-year-old dog, had been left alone in his apartment for days.
Police were notified of his disappearance on March 14 and submitted his information into the state and national database as a missing person.
Marcus was last seen driving a white 2021 GMC Sierra pickup truck with Arizona license plate 3MA66L at a Phoenix parking garage, AZ Family reported.
Police have not yet revealed if they found the truck or whom he was meeting up with on the date.
Marcus’ father, Rodger Freiberger, told AZ Central that he had been working with investigators to find his son when his body was discovered.
“We just want to know what happened. Marcus was a great kid. He was truly loved by a lot of people. The amount of shares on Facebook on his missing person’s report. If you go and read the comments, it’s amazing how many people knew Marcus,” the father said.
“I don’t know if he had any issues going on; not sure what led to the disappearance. It’s very strange. Hopefully, they’ll investigate and come up with something.”
Rodger had previously said his son had been between apartments when he vanished and that he had previously struggled with drugs and money issues.
He also suspected foul play around his son’s disappearance since his dog was left alone.
“Even if he did decide to go somewhere, he would’ve at least called his friend to take Thomas. That makes me really think there’s something more going on here, foul play of some sort,” his dad said.
Marcus had recently landed a gig as an instructor at Melrose Yoga before disappearing.
