By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Staff Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A PROMINENT real estate professional who was reported missing has been found shot dead in a secluded area of East Grand Bahama in what police say is an apparent suicide.

Nikolai Sarles’ body was found Tuesday evening off Grand Bahama Highway. A firearm and ammunition were also found nearby.

The tragic incident has devastated his family, colleagues and associates in the Bahamian real estate industry.

Sarles, 36, was the son of prominent real estate businessman James Sarles and Marina Gottlieb-Sarles of Grand Bahama. He was a real estate broker at his father’s firm, James Sarles Realty.

He leaves behind a wife –– a doctor, and an assistant professor at a medical school in Freeport. The couple recently got married and have a one-year-old son.

Police said officers went to a bushy area off Grand Bahama Highway around 7.40pm on Tuesday, where they found a vehicle and, a short distance away, an unresponsive male with a gunshot wound.

Police seized a quantity of ammunition from the victim and his vehicle. A doctor pronounced him dead at the scene.

The victim had been reported missing since 2pm on Tuesday.

Sarles was a successful real estate broker who closed major property deals in Grand Bahama and elsewhere.

Donna Laing-Jones, of Keys Bahamas Realty, expressed shock, saying: “I was heartbroken to hear about the passing of Nikolai Sarles, whom I worked very closely with.”

Ms Jones described Nikolai as a young, vibrant man full of potential. She said he had been preparing his son to take over the family business.

“I can only imagine how difficult this must be for Jamie, Marina, Bri, Liam, and all who knew and loved him, as well as the entire real estate community on Grand Bahama,” she said.

Ms Jones said she had tried to contact Nikolai and sent him a message on Saturday but learned he was on vacation.

This is not the first time such a tragedy has struck the Sarles-Gottlieb family. Nikolai’s uncle, Cay Gottlieb — a well-known Bahamian attorney, songwriter, and founder of Cool 96 Radio — died similarly in 1997. He was 51.