Friends and family gathered Friday to say a final farewell to a 46-year-old Fayetteville man who drowned when the boat in which he was a passenger capsized in high seas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dennis Herring's funeral was held seven days after his body was found by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials on April 15.

His fishing friend, 50-year-old Julian Lee Jr., of Fayetteville, who owned the fishing boat they were on when it capsized April 7, also drowned. Lee's body was recovered in Florida on April 8.

Both had gone fishing for king mackerel when the accident occurred. Neither victim was wearing a life jacket.

A twin engine patrol aircraft from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spotted Herring's body, spokesman Stan Kirkland said.

"At approximately 10:15 a.m., an FWC aircraft patrolling the Gulf of Mexico associated with the opening of red snapper season sighted a deceased male victim approximately 23 miles south of Destin," Kirkland said. "The aircraft reported his position and remained above the body until two patrol boats arrived and recovered it."

Herring's body was transported to Destin where it was examined by investigators and turned over to the Okaloosa County, Fla. Medical Examiner's office.

Herring had been missing since the 27-foot fishing boat, "My Girl Too," he was a passenger on floundered in heavy seas on April 7.