Updated: Body found off La Jolla coast is that of missing diver

By City News Service

An investigator with the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office said a body located off the La Jolla coastline, Sunday, June 3 has been identified as Jeffrey May, the 45-year-old Oceanside man who disappeared there Memorial Day.

A volunteer diver going deeper than most found the corpse about 175 feet below the surface at about 7:15 a.m., according to city lifeguard Lt. Andy Lerum.

The body was brought to the surface and lifeguards were called shortly before 8 a.m., he said.

“We responded and observed a (deceased) person wearing scuba gear. He had been deceased for a number of days,” Lerum said. The scuba gear was missing a weight belt, he said.

The body was taken by rescue boat to a dock in Mission Bay, where the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office took over, he said.

A medical examination to determine the cause and manner of death was pending as of press time, the medical examiner’s office said.

May was reported missing May 28 after a planned dive in the area. He went to La Jolla Shores early in the morning, May 28, telling his wife he planned to meet up with a diving group. She reported him missing about 8 p.m. that evening, city lifeguards said.

May had rented a scuba tank and some diving weights at OEexpress dive shop on Avenida De La Playa, but authorities could find no one who saw him entering the water. His dive-group members also reported no contact with him.

May’s car was found in a parking lot in the area, and a plastic tub holding his car keys, sunglasses and clothing was located in a grassy area along the beach.

Lifeguards used remote operating vehicles and searched for days following May’s disappearance, Lerum said. The body was found at a depth below where rescue divers can safely go.

He said currents might have been moved the body around during the past week.

—La Jolla Light Reporter Pat Sherman contributed to this report