Drowned Diver “Lived for Water and Family”: Wife

Jeffrey Logandro, 38, died Wednesday after sinking underwater in his scuba gear

The scuba diver who drowned in the Mission Bay Channel Wednesday evening had a great deal of experience with his gear, living “for the water and his family,” according to his wife.

Joining friends for lobster fishing, Jeffery Logandro, 38, jumped in the bay but immediately started struggling with his gear. Suddenly, he sank.

By the time lifeguards fought against his heavy equipment and pulled him out, Logandro had been underwater at least four minutes without access to his compressed air. He was pronounced dead an hour later at the hospital.

Now, his wife Michelle, their two young daughters and the rest of his family are waiting for answers on what caused his death.

“Because it doesn’t make any sense that it would be equipment or any type of action on his part,” said Michelle’s sister Mary Pat Paulson. “He was really safe. He did this on a regular basis and loved it.”

She said Logandro and his family moved to Carlsbad to be closer to the ocean, where he would dive or surf almost every day with his own equipment.

Michelle, who is expecting another child, sent NBC 7 pictures of her “love” fishing, spending time by the beach and teaching his 1-year-old to balance on a surfboard.

“He lived for the water and his family,” she said in an email Thursday.

Paulson believes it may have been a medical emergency that caused Logandro to go under without oxygen.

In the midst of a tragic day, Paulson recalled one important moment: Michelle got to say goodbye.

“She came home special yesterday early from work with her girls just to say bye before he went diving. You know, that was just a miracle thing that she got to do that,” said Paulson.

Michelle told NBC 7 the community is invited to a Carlsbad State Beach paddle-out in Logandro’s honor on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. Friends have also set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for the Logandro family.

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