Body found in ocean offshore from Mission Bay

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – A body strapped in a life vest was found floating in the ocean off the coast of San Diego Monday.

The discovery roughly five miles west of Mission Bay was reported at about 11:30 a.m., according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The county Medical Examiner’s Office took custody of the body for autopsy and identification purposes.

Shortly before the corpse was found, the crew of the USCG cutter Sea Otter came across an empty life vest drifting in the swells in the same general area, Coast Guard Petty Officer Alex Gray said.

Personnel with the federal maritime agency, including a crew aboard a Jayhawk helicopter, scanned the ocean in the area for any other victims, with help from San Diego Fire-Rescue Department lifeguards, SDFRD spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.

The search was suspended in the early evening, with no other victims having been found, the Coast Guard reported.