SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – San Diego Police are investigating the discovery of a body off Sunset Cliffs Wednesday morning.
Police said a fisherman on the beach off Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, near Claibornes Cove, spotted the body that had washed ashore onto rocks at around 5 a.m.
ABC 10News learned the body was decomposing; responding police officers believed the body was that of a male, based on initial observations.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner was sent to the scene, and additional firefighters and lifeguards were dispatched to the area to assist with removing the body, which was wedged between rocks.
It took crews nearly three hours to get the body out.
“We speculate the high tide came in around 10 p.m.; that’s probably when the body washed ashore. With the low tide, the body was wedged between some of the boulders. it did take some time with Fire-Rescue to come out with the proper equipment,” said SDPD Capt. Laura McLean.
Police believe the body may have been in the water for an undetermined period of time.
While it is has been nearly a month since a Crawford High School graduate disappeared in the waters off Mission Beach, not far from Sunset Cliffs, police said it is too soon to identify the person as the body has been decomposing.
“We don’t even know what the race is. We're not going to speculate at this point, if it is the young man that was missing from Mission Beach. At this time, all we know it is a male,” McLean added.
