The family and friends of a Pittsford man are looking for answers following his tragic death in Costa Rica over the weekend.
John Anderson went to Costa Rica to celebrate his 65th birthday. He ate a meal at a tree top restaurant Saturday and fell 100 feet to his death while taking a zip line back to the ground.
"It's wasn't even really an excursion; it wasn't like he was rappelling cliffs and doing anything crazy, he was just returning from an exotic restaurant,” said Anderson’s business partner, Jim Ryan. “John loved adventures like that, very unique experiences. But it just went horribly wrong."
Anderson and Ryan co-owned Ryco management, a property management firm in Pittsford.
Ryan has been deluged with phone calls and text messages from friends and local business contacts since he first learned of Anderson’s death early Sunday morning. Ryan said Anderson was a worldly person and an educated man.
"He was a very solid thinking, ethical business guy who could always think many steps ahead. I think that was his huge value. But I guess, most of all he was a great partner; a very trustworthy partner."
Anderson is the former CEO of Wilmorite, the Rochester-based commercial real estate development and management company. His previous work took him around the world, according to Ryan. “He was also an international banker for a time and he had incredible stories about banking in the Soviet Union and Communist countries back in the late '80s and the adventures that provided," he said.
Ryan said Anderson's family has contacted the American Embassy in Costa Rica to try to get more information about his death.
As of midday Monday, there were no details about funeral arrangements.