Friends, Family ID Body Found in Mission Bay

Steve Marquez didn't show up to his job as scheduled Monday

Friends and family members are mourning the death of a man they call a fixture of Ocean Beach.

Steve Marquez was discovered Wednesday in Mission Bay under the Ingraham Street Bridge. A family out sailing found the man's body floating in the bay according to the county medical examiner.

The San Diego resident had been missing for several days according to his brother-in-law, Mark Jimenez. 

When San Diego police officers brought some of Marquez's belongings to the family Wednesday night, they included the victim's wallet with money inside and his phone.

"It’s a real bummer because we know someone put him in that water there and we want to know who did it," said Jimenez.

"I know he didn’t deserve to die like that."

Marquez, 37, worked for more than a year maintaining the cemetery grounds for El Camino Memorial on Imperial Avenue. He didn't show up as scheduled Monday which was unusual according to the funeral director.

Marquez lived at the Centre City Hotel on 4th Avenue in San Diego officials said. Friends said Marquez had been living along Voltaire Street in Ocean Beach.

He was also a regular at Lucy's Tavern where friends gathered Thursday to talk about the man they said would give you the shirt off his back.

Josh Huffman said the man known by everyone as "Steve I."  would help anybody out and would do it with a smile.

"He was well respected in the Ocean Beach community," said Huffman.

"We are just in shock," said OB resident George Jimenez whose brother is married to Marquez's sister.

“He was just a really good person, well loved. “

The San Diego County Medical Examiner officially identified Marquez Thursday afternoon reporting that he was last spotted outside a local pub on Wednesday, Aug. 24.

The official cause of death was listed as drowning.

Contact Us