Family and friends remembered a Lake Linganore man not for his unfortunate death, but for his passions in life.

The body of Morgan Wardlaw Platt, 24, of New Market was recovered from the Brosius Dam on Lake Linganore on March 11, after being discovered by two fishermen the previous day.

Platt was an avid outdoorsman, and a lover of nature, according to his father, Philip Platt.

In fact, while doing some yard work for a relative, Morgan Platt almost refused to move a weed because he was afraid of killing the plant, his father said.

Platt's family had last seen him on March 3, but it was a week before they contacted police in connection with the investigation.

Morgan Platt would often go off to California for long periods, where he was involved with the Environmental Protection Information Center, an organization that works to preserve old-growth red wood trees. He had planned to leave for California again soon, and his father believed that he might have gone without letting the family know.

"It was very normal for him to go for a walk in the woods and hang out and commune with nature," Philip Platt said.

The Marvel Comics superhero pajamas Platt was wearing were the sign that his son was the man who had been found in the lake. The pajamas were a gift from Morgan Platt's mother for Christmas, he said.

When he heard that the body had been found in the dam, Philip Platt said he was worried, but the height and weight the police originally estimated were off, which gave him hope. "I was just reaching for anything to think that it wasn't him," he said.

Veronica Perkins, Philip Platt's best friend who was at his home on Tuesday, said Morgan Platt had attended Frederick Community College and was studying microbiology. "He was brilliant," she said.

Perkins said that Morgan Platt was sociable and could talk to people about "physics, philosophy or what color your shoestrings were. ... Whoever or whatever you were, he opened his arms to you," she said.

Morgan Platt had a regular camp site in southern Maryland, where he had established a solar-powered water pump to grow fruit, according to his father.

Morgan Platt could not be there to protect it all the time, and his father was worried people would take fruit whenever they wanted. He would respond "yeah, that's the point," Philip Platt said.

Philip Platt said police had asked him several questions to establish cause of death, including whether or not he might have had any enemies - his father said he did not - or whether he might have been a risk-taker.

In light of Morgan Platt's love of climbing 200-foot-tall trees to prevent them being cut down, Philip Platt said he considered his son "a chance-taker."

However, because his son was doing something he believed in, Philip Platt said he admired his passion. "I was proud of him on that," he said.

The body was turned over to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, where an autopsy was performed Friday.

Cpl. Jennifer Bailey, spokeswoman for the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, said there were no updates or new details on the case as of Wednesday morning.

She said investigators have not determined how long Morgan Platt was in the water and they are not releasing details about the autopsy because the results are pending.

The Sheriff's Office is searching for leads in the case, and asks anyone with any knowledge about the man to call 301-600-4131