One of the 33 crew members aboard El Faro, the U.S. cargo ship that the Coast Guard says sank off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin, was 2007 Fitch High School graduate Mitchell Kuflik.

The Coast Guard officially ended its search Wednesday for the missing crew members.

On Friday, Kuflik's mother, Donna Griffin released a statement about her son: 

"Mitchell T. Kuflik, 26, graduated from Maine Maritime Academy 2011 at the top of his class and from Fitch Sr. High in Groton 2007.

"He was an officer and engineer on El Faro. 

"The only things Mitchell loved more than the sea were his fiancée, his family and friends.

"He loved to tell tall tales and would find humor in the little things. Mitch was generous, loyal to a fault, kindhearted and the first in line to help anyone in need. He always sought adventure and had no fear, living life to the fullest. He had shipped to five out of seven continents. Mitchell was passionate about rock climbing, skiing, camping and cooking, often making a family meal for his friends." 

Griffin and Kuflik's father, Greg Kuflik, issued separate statements through representatives saying neither wished to be contacted to speak about their son. 

During a news conference announcing the end of the search on Wednesday, Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor, 7th District chief of response, described how a Coast Guard helicopter flew for more than 11 hours on Sunday, including two incidents of inflight refueling.

As soon as Coast Guard cutter crews arrived on scene, it was an all-hands effort, Fedor said, noting that people who don't usually go to the bridge of a ship like engineers and cooks did so, and spent hours scanning the horizon with binoculars.

He also credited the Navy and the Air Force for their efforts in the search.

"I say all this because I want the families to really know how committed we were to finding their loved ones," Fedor said.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived on scene Tuesday morning, NTSB Vice Chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr said during Wednesday's news conference.

NTSB is leading the investigation into what happened with support from the Coast Guard and other organizations.

The shipping company Tote Maritime, operator of El Faro, released the names of the crew members. Kuflik, who went by Mitch, is listed as living in Brooklyn, N.Y. His Facebook page says that he is from Mystic.

In January, Kuflik became engaged to another Fitch High graduate, Brittany Shinn, according to her Facebook page. Both Kuflik's and Shinn's Facebook pages feature several pictures of them together.

In the Fitch yearbook from the 2006-07 school year, Kuflik is seen smiling, sporting braces, and wearing a green striped button-down shirt in his senior picture.

A quote next to his picture reads: "A word to the wise isn't necessary — it's the stupid ones that need advice." In response to the question "Where are you going?" It says, "I want to own my own tug boat company."

The yearbook lists him as a member of the Science Club and the National Honor Society.

Brian Chidley, a professor in the Science Department at Fitch who was adviser of the Science Club at the time Kuflik was a member, said he was a good student.

Kuflik was in Chidley's AP Physics class during his senior year, and did well enough on the AP Physics exam to earn college credit, Chidley said.

In an email, Chidley described Kuflik as an active kid, often pulling harmless practical jokes, "such as changing the pen caps on my white board markers, causing me to write with a different color."

"He was always looking for a laugh, and other kids naturally found him to be an entertaining guy," Chidley said by email.

Kuflik was president of the Science Club during his senior year, according to Chidley, who recalled "a fun after-school project in which we used mirrors to make a single laser beam reflect through every hallway in the building."

A friend of both Kuflik and his fiancée, Jamie Kriger, said the three of them were in the same friend group in high school, and that she has known Shinn since preschool. 

Kriger said the couple were living in Brooklyn together and recalled that they went rock climbing together.

Kriger described Kuflik as friendly, outgoing and always up for a laugh. She expressed her condolences to Kuflik's family and "what Brittany has to go through. It's just a devastating tragedy."

On MMA's Facebook page, a post, signed "with sadness" by MMA president Bill Brennan, reads "I regret to share with the Maine Maritime Academy family that another friend, colleague, and alumnus, Mitchell Kuflik, Class of 2011, was a member of the El Faro crew. The extended Academy community is grieving the loss of another mariner and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones."

Kuflik was one of five MMA graduates who were members of El Faro's crew, according to the post.

j.bergman@theday.com

Twitter: @JuliaSBergman