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As the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota got underway on August 7, one of its famous attendees, Deadliest Catch captain Tony Lara,died that same weekend at age 50. According to the Associated Press, the reality TV star passed away earlySaturday morning at a private residence in Sturgis, and authorities are now waiting for autopsyresults to help determine the cause of his death.
Cast member JoshHarris posted on Facebook that Tony had passedaway in his sleep. "With Heavy hearts we lost oneof the original cm crew and captin to is," he wrote, adding he felt "very confused and sad."
Deadliest Catch star Tony Lara died over the weekend Photo: Facebook/tonylara
Tony had taken over the role of captain on the
Cornelia Marie
after Josh's father
Phil Harris
died in 2010. The crabbing veteran quickly became a fan favorite on the Discovery Channel adventure showfor being a lovable captain, father figure to Josh and hard worker on the crew's often dangerous fishing trips.
Tony was credited with bringing the Cornelia Marie back to life Photo: Facebook/tonylara
Asmuch as he had a passion for the sea, he also had a passion for motorcycles, which iswhy he was attending the South Dakota rally along with around 1 million others. So far, 12 riders have died at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally thisyear according to KOTA, making it the deadliest one on record.