L.A. firefighter who went missing after Long Beach dive identified, but he hasn’t been found
Authorities searching for a missing off-duty Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter who went on a recreational dive with three other men off the Long Beach coast have transitioned their efforts from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery operation.
The missing firefighter is 29-year-old Connor Lees, an L.A. Fire Department spokesperson said Friday.
“As search operations have continued over the last 19 hours, the survivability profile of the diver and decreased visibility have made it difficult to sustain prolonged search operations,” the Long Beach Fire Department stated in an Instagram post.
These factors, the Long Beach Fire Department said, along with the “extended time since the diver was last seen,” ultimately led to the decision, made by multiple agencies involved, to change the status of the operation.
An off-duty Los Angeles City Firefighter in his 20s is missing after a party of four went free diving off Pier J in Long Beach on Wednesday evening. Authorities are conducting rescue efforts.
“The decision to transition operations to recovery mission is not taken lightly,” the Long Beach Fire Department post said. “As we make this transition, our thoughts and prayers continue for the family of the missing diver and for our brothers and sisters at the Los Angeles City Fire Department.”
The Long Beach Police Department took over recovery efforts as of Friday afternoon.
Richard Mejia, a department public information officer, said investigators do not suspect foul play, and Lees is believed to be lost at sea.
Wednesday evening, a group of four men departed from the Port of Long Beach to go free diving.
Free diving involves a person holding their breath for as long as possible while diving and swimming without the use of equipment such as scuba gear.
The body of Johnny Phommathep II, 17, was recovered, and his brother Jake, 14, is presumed dead. The teens had survived the 2017 Rancho Tehama shooting.
One of the men is presumed to be the driver of the small vessel carrying the three others, said Brian Fisk, a Long Beach Fire Department spokesperson. Eventually, two men returned from free diving while a third did not, Fisk said.
The men called for emergency assistance at 9:55 p.m. Wednesday, and the Long Beach Fire Department responded with divers and marine assets at 10:17 p.m., Fisk said.
The emergency call prompted a multiagency response that included the Los Angeles City Fire Department, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division and Los Angeles Port Police.
Authorities have been and will continue to search for the missing diver with the assistance of side scan sonar, which, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is specifically used for detecting objects on the seafloor.
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