Authorities Investigating Drowning of Ventura Man

Police are investigating the drowning of a Ventura man whose body was found early Sunday floating in the surf off Promenade Park, five days after he was reported missing from a local halfway house.

According to police, the body of 25-year-old Alfred Bilazon was spotted floating in the water by an elderly couple preparing for an early morning swim about 6:30 near the 400 block of Harbor Drive.

Deputy Coroner James Baroni said an autopsy confirmed that Bilazon drowned while swimming in the ocean. He added that there was no trauma that would indicate the man was incapacitated before he died.

For the past two months, Bilazon had been staying at Ventura’s International House, a halfway home for individuals coping with drug and alcohol addiction. Those at the facility who knew Bilazon said he’d come to make new friends and find support.

“He came here to get his life back together and was doing really well,” said Mike Gaddis, program coordinator at the facility. “He just needed some time to get his life straight.”

According to authorities, who are looking into the possibility that Bilazon’s death might have been a suicide, he told acquaintances early Wednesday afternoon that he was going to the beach and might not be back.

However, those at the halfway home said it was unlikely that Bilazon would have taken his own life.

“He told me that he was going body-surfing, which he did a lot,” Gaddis said. “He wasn’t suicidal, he was really happy. I think that what happened is that he got pulled out in a riptide.”

Although authorities said it was far too early to say what happened to Bilazon, a heavy south swell generated by Hurricane Guillermo off the coast of Baja pounded area beaches with 8- to 10-foot waves all last week, producing strong rip currents and swirling eddies.