Oceanside CA— At about 9:00am this morning, October 9, 2015, the Oceanside Police Department responded to the San Luis Rey River in the area of SR-76 east of Interstate 5 for a report of a person floating face down in the water. The reporting party had observed the individual from the bike path that runs along the south shoreline of the river.
OPD and OFD personnel responded and could ascertain from the shoreline that the victim was an adult male and obviously deceased and had been so for an extended period of time.
The rescue response was cancelled and personnel from the fire department, life guard division and Oceanside PD went into recovery mode. The recovery plan was put in place with Oceanside Fire Life Guards assigned to recover the male victim and bring him to shore, then OPD secured the scene for an investigation. No signs of what happened to the deceased male, who was approximately in his mid to late 50’s and witnesses interviewed on-scene did not see anything further as to what happened.
The Oceanside Fire Department lifeguards entered the water at approximately 10:28 hrs and a field evidence tech was on scene to document the body recovery. The unidentified victim was brought to shore at approximately 10:50 hrs, and OPD took custody for investigative purposes. Because of the poor water quality in the river, all personnel involved in direct contact with both the victim and the water underwent decontamination procedures at the scene.
The body, which had no apparent signs of trauma or injury, was turned over to the Medical Examiner’s Office who will make efforts to identify the cause of death and learn his identity.