Crab House Owner Dies, Remembered With Tributes: Reports

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Relatives and employees are mourning the death of a Baltimore County crab house owner who died this week.

Multiple news outlets reported that 85-year-old Costas Triantafilos, owner of Costas Inn in Dundalk, died Monday from elevated carbon monoxide levels at his Glen Arm home. The Greek immigrant opened his restaurant in 1971.

"Everybody that met him loved him. He made everyone feel so special. He loved people. He loved everyone," Pete Triantafilos, the restaurateur's son and business partner, told WBAL-TV.

The Baltimore County Fire Department said it was called for a cardiac arrest at a Glen Arm home around 7:37 a.m. Monday.

Firefighters said a vehicle left running in an attached garage caused dangerously high carbon monoxide levels. The fire department didn't publicly identify the victim.

"I feel like I lost my father all over again," server Jenny Marshall told WJZ, adding that "Even though we're not blood related, we pull together as a family and make it work, no matter what."

The death came as Costas Inn planned to open its second location this spring, expanding to Timonium at the Maryland State Fairgrounds' horse track grandstand.

"You pinch yourself to see if it's real and then you realize this is a nightmare you're not waking up from. It's not going to happen," bartender Christine Thamert told WMAR.

Costas Inn posted this message on Facebook: