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Updated at 12:49 a.m. ET: LOS ANGELES -- A body found floating in the water off the Palos Verdes Peninsula coast is that of missing diver Rebecca Weiss, who disappeared a week ago, authorities confirmed late Saturday.
Coroner Investigator Elissa Fleak said the body had been identified as that of Weiss, 50, of Marina del Rey.
No cause of death was available, and the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner will complete an autopsy in the next few days, Fleak said at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
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Authorities had said earlier Saturday that the body appeared to be that of a drowning victim.
If the death was accidental, that would potentially calm speculation surrounding the disappearance of Weiss, an experienced free diver from Marina del Rey who frequented the waters off Palos Verdes.
Homicide investigators were on the scene in the rocky waters below Terranea Resort after authorities got a call at 11:37 a.m. stating a body had been discovered in the water, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lt. John Wolak said.
Lt. Holly Francisco, who spoke with reporters on site Saturday afternoon, said recreational divers first spotted the body, which was found to be wearing diving gear.
Francisco could not at the time confirm the dead person's identity or its gender.
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Weiss' family members were in the area when the body was found.
"They did not identify the diver that was located in the water, but they were here passing out missing-persons fliers where their family member was last diving," Francisco said.
Francisco said Los Angeles Fire Department responders pulled the body from the water.
Wolak said he wasn't sure exactly where the body was found, but the call came from someone at or near Terranea, a luxury resort at the former site of Marineland of the Pacific (map).
The lower portion of the resort, which sits on land above a cliff, had been cordoned off as detectives searched for evidence, Francisco said.
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Volunteers on Saturday had planned to pass out fliers in an effort to find out what happened to Weiss, 50, who disappeared after she apparently went diving alone off Rancho Palos Verdes on Aug. 11.
Weiss was supposed to be back by 5 p.m., according to her husband, 60-year-old Alan Weiss, who reported her missing that night. He said that when she did not return as scheduled, he went to the area where they go diving.
Her car and a diving bag were found nearby, but her cellphone and keys remain missing, sheriff's officials said.
Sheriff’s officials have questioned the husband in the case, but detectives do not consider him a suspect in his wife’s disappearance.
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"The husband of Rebecca is not considered a suspect. He's been cooperative with investigators," Francisco said Saturday.
She added that investigators believed Rebecca Weiss had been diving alone.
In an interview earlier in the day, before the body was found, Weiss' mother, Vilma Causey, said she would have a hard time believing her daughter would go diving alone.
"We have number-one rule. I dive myself, and we say there has to be a buddy -- somebody with you -- at all times," Causey said.
Authorities had hoped a surveillance camera near where her car was found might shed more light on Weiss' disappearance.
The family of Rebecca Weiss, who went missing last week while reportedly free diving, are questioning the story of her husband -- who was the last person to see her – though police have ruled him out as a suspect. NBC News' Diana Alvear reports.
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I think the husband will be a suspect in the future..youll see!
I knew they would find her but as always she found by another swimmer or diver not by the all those professionals looking for her that always seems to happen.
MAY GOD GIVE THE HER FAMILY MEMBERS THE STRENGTH TO GO THROUGH THIS REALLY TOUGH TIME AS I KNOW HE WILL!!!
This womans own family suspects that her husband might have something to do with this his coperating with the police but he wasnt out there with her family trying to help, and he said he went out there on his own earlier to look for her he could of been lying, in the Peterson case he murdered his wife cut her up and threw her in the ocean in California because he was having an affair, what about the guy who was accused of killing his wife with his own chilldren in the car and they never found her body he was never convicted and then a few months ago he used an ax to hit his own two sons and then set the house on fire and killed himself and his own children, and a few days ago a man killed his whole family and then he drove his car the wrong way on the expressway he died and he killed another person in the process, hopefully he is innocent but her family knows this man better then all of us and for them to even suspect him there has to be a reason. Maybe it was a tragic accident but I believe her families suspicions.
He let her go diving alone?Come on,a woman does not need her husband's permission in this country to do as she pleases.Her parents are mad because that is part of the what if's when an accidental death or possibly a suicide occurs.Her parents reaction is normal in this situation.Don't make something out of nothing.This is real life and not a soap opera.
After reading the story and watching the video it appears the woman was not SCUBA diving, she was snorkeling and free diving. You don't have to be certified or take any classes to do that and the caution about diving alone mainly applies to SCUBA diving. I live in the area and have SCUBA dived, free dived and surfed extensively. I see nothing that unusual about someone who is a strong swimmer and an experienced snorkeler/free diver going for a swim in the ocean on a calm, warm summer day with a wetsuit, mask, fins and snorkel. The weather has been great lately for just such an activity. Doing this sort of activity without a companion is not unusual. Same goes for going Surfing without a buddy. There were probably other people doing this sort of thing in the Palos Verde area on the day she died, it's a very popular area for water sports. Several things could have gone wrong to cause her death. She was 50 years old and it is possible she had something happen like a seizure, stroke or heart attack for instance - yes, it happens to people who seem very healthy. I had a stroke when I was 46 years old but was fortunate to have recovered completely. Blaming her husband for her death based on the details in the story and video seems unjustified at this point. Also, any woman going alone to a somewhat isolated area is at risk for foul play and so is a man for that matter. As others have stated, she probably hid her phone and keys somewhere nearby as I would have done. Again, not unusual or sinister. It's not impossible that she was murdered but nothing is the story so far points to that in my humble opinion.
Well, the ocean's not getting away with this.. it thinks it can just kill people willy nilly
TDQB1, I certainly agree that it is 'safer' to have a buddy when engaging in any ocean sport. I just don't find it to be very unusual to go snorkeling/free diving/surfing alone. Going 'alone' also doesn't necessarily mean there weren't other people in the area. I have been SCUBA diving many times in the P.V area and the entries/exits can indeed be dangerous, especially if there are any significant waves. In the P.V. location where I used to regularly SCUBA dive you had to climb up/down a 30ft cliff using a rope that someone had installed there. Try doing that suited up with a weight belt and a tank on your back. Then climbing over boulders to enter the water while timing the entry between waves. Same on exit. The location she was snorkeling/free diving does have small rocks on the shore but is honestly fairly easy to safely enter/exit especially compared to other areas, waves permitting of course. Now, that being said, there were some waves happening on the day she died but they weren't very large. She was experienced and familiar with the area so I have to 'assume' she knew what she was doing and how to do it with care. However, stuff happens even to experienced people. For example, being in the wrong place at the wrong time and a wave comes and slams your head into a rock. This can be fatal, and of course having someone with you can be the difference between life and death assuming they are close enough to help. And it isn't just the entry/exit that can be dangerous, if she was swimming/free diving near the rock cliffs a wave could have caused her death. Also, while free diving underwater, the ocean surge current when a wave passes overhead can slam you into a boulder or even cause you to be trapped/caught between boulders and drown.
The autopsy will probably show she drowned in the ocean. Since her body was in the ocean for a week, it may or may not be able to determine if she had a stroke or heart attack, or a pre-death trauma such as hitting her head on a rock that was the root cause of her drowning. Unfortunately, her body was probably pretty beat up by waves/tides causing it to contact the rocks/cliffs during the week before it was recovered. Based on the available info, I seriously doubt her husband had anything to do with her death, but it is a possibility and that I'm sure will be looked at in detail.
I feel for her family and the pain they are experiencing. At least they found her body and there is some chance for closure. Maybe they will eventually find some comfort in knowing she died doing something she loved. There are certainly much worse ways to die, and we are all going to die someday. It seems like she had a family that loved her, a nice home, and enjoyed good health at the time of her death. These are things to be thankful for, many don't have these things.
Wes, as you know the area, any rip or strong currents ever reported? Shoals...any close enough in to cause irregular wave staggering? Hard as hell to time a wave when shoals stagger them unevenly. Your info would be nice, may allay some of the conspiracy theorists.
What sounds fishy is all the people out there willing to take the murder-plunge. She was an accomplished diver and, even so, could have made the mistake of diving alone. People surf and dive alone and people also drown or get seriously hurt doing those activities. Let's wait for the autopsy before we jump to the murder conclusion. MEs are autonomous, they don't fall prey easily to public pressures calling for someone's head on a platter when drawing their conclusions.
My condolences to her husband and immediate family members.
Hats off to her husband for having the balls to vote agiants women's power over the courtroom.
insurance co fraud no doubt
Her dive-buddy is a person of interest.
No conspiracy here, sorry arm chair CSI fans. Shallow Water Blackout, a type of hypoxia, can happen to even experienced free divers in relatively safe and "shallow" conditions and it can be deadly. Occam's Razor...apply it directly to the forehead.
Plese ignore my previous comments. Im talking out my a-hole again. Actually she had to drive her own car there because there is no way he could when he had his own. I think my brain damage is starting to affect me. Sorry!
I had a thought the other day. We should kill off all the sharks and help bring back the ocean wildlife. What good is a shark anyway? Ok so it keeps other ocean dwelling creatures in balance. Which popualation would skyrocket? Man is the creature who is screwing up the natural balance. Man is the one who needs birth control. Seriously though, we should seriously consider killing off all the sharks! It was a thought anyway.
Sharks ARE ocean wildlife. I'm not sure that what you had qualifies as a 'thought'... more like incoherent neural discharge - not that there's anything wrong with that
The autopsy might reveal some more clues.
Until this coutry fixes divorce law and men having to send a check to the woman 99% of the time, I can't begin to place any blame on this guy at all. Give him credit for the thought he put into this. Society has nothing to fear from him, womens's lib does.
This is Bush's fault. Obama need to pass a law that outlaws diving so this doesn't happen again to anyone. Lets also create a huge Gov't agency to make sure no millionaire dive shop owners can secretly sell diving equip on the side thereby avoiding paying taxes. If Romney is elected, thousand will continue to dive and possibly die and join granny at the bottom of the cliff.
yep husband did it, most people don't dive alone. this is strange let's see what the insurance pays out. He's a fatso how did these 2 meet? and did he specifically find someone into diving with the intention of losing his wife to an "accident"?
I think it is her snatch you are smelling.
You have a filthy mouth and should have your right to post taken away.
Adam & Steve-532527
For someone who came home from Scores or the Blue Oyster Bar at 3:am, on Sunday, your remark is totally irrelevant.
Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Church Of Scientology.com
I don't think the husband did it...but I think SOMEONE did. Keys and cell phone missing...a VERY experienced diver diving alone? Doubt it. Find out who she was diving with. There's your suspect. Let's see what the autopsy reveals.
This doesn't sound good at all! Experienced diver who dives alone - probably not! Keys and cellphone missing - indicates wrongdoing. Someone caused this to happen, no doubt. Husband? Who knows? But, why would he know she was going to dive - alone - and go to where they dive? He is experienced diver, so why would he let her go alone. Just all sounds pretty weird! R.I.P. lady!
"Francisco could not at the time confirm the dead person's identity or its gender." "ITS"????? Couldn't they have said "THEIR gender" or "THE gender"? ITS? This is a member of someones family!
People of the United States of America,
Isn't this like the third or fourth women in a couple of years who has gone diving either alone or with their husband or boyfriend and ended up dead?
Even though it is not advisable to dive alone, people do stupid things sometimes. Remember the young man who had to take off his own arm to free himself after all those days trapped. Hiking alone is that stupid or what? We don't know the whole story yet but maybe the lady had an arument with the hubby and stormed off to the ocean for a dip and viola' stayed down to long. Anyway my condolences to her family.
I think cold foot did it
reading all of the comments here are so disrespectful, a woman lost her life here or does that not matter to anyone? may she RIP and the investigations surrounding her death will continue, for goodness sake stop the name calling and allow a bit of respect and grieving to the family
I lived and grew up in San Pedro, CA from 1968 thru 1982, join the service went back, and now I am a resident of springfield, IL so to look at some familiar sean feels great. By the look of the picture, that is abalone cove where I had stop after kayaking from the north of it in redondo beach towards cabrillo beach in San Pedro, CA and it use to be a nudist beach, how you like those apple, back in the 60s and 70s. In the 60s, 70s, 80s it was un heard of for something like this to happen, in the coming decade pufff things like that began to occur so I suspect foul play. And by reading the articles that are printing, there is alot of murder going on in Los Angeles, CA, man whats the problem there. But I agree with the relatives, eveyone know not to go snorkling or diving by yourself its boring, so the husband account is rather fishy and going against the wave of el nino, jajajaja get, el nino, the fenominum that occurs in that area.
If I remember correctly people, if you look at the picture and walk left around the cliff you will find a cove, a cave about 7 yards wide I used to go there and take dives and the currents never took me. I got scratched from the rocks and was scared but once I jumped in it went away. The water was cold even during the hot summers, so it refreshed the body. Surfing was at one point the thing to do there. And one more point, Palos Verdes at one time used to be the richest place in the United State even more than beverly hills cops place.
husband cooperative? did they ask him why he allowed his wife to go diving alone? and why is the husband giving her a time to be back? That's creepy. So if she's not back at 5 it means he can go report her missing, he sounds like an @!$%# for not talking with his Mother in law. Nor helping with the search. Sorry this guy is guilty. How much term life did he have on her?