Hiker found below Torrey Pines Gliderport identified

A tourist from Maine was found dead Thursday about 100 feet down a seaside cliff near Torrey Pines Gliderport, where he apparently had fallen to his death while hiking earlier this week.

Authorities began searching for 65-year-old Francis Wihbey after his daughter reported finding his rental car in a parking lot near the sheer coastal bluff in northern San Diego, according to police and the county Medical Examiner’s Office.

An SDPD helicopter crew spotted Wihbey’s body shortly after 7 a.m., Detective Gary Hassen said. Firefighters then airlifted it off the ledge where it had come to rest.

Wihbey’s family had reported him missing after he failed to board his scheduled flight home on Wednesday, according to police.

Wihbey, described as an experienced hiker, appeared to have fallen off a trail on the precipice, SDPD Lt. Dan Christman told KFMB-TV.

Officers checking on his welfare found property belonging to him inside the hotel room where he had been staying during his trip, the lieutenant said. Wihbey had traveled to San Diego last week to visit relatives and attend social events.