The body pulled from the ocean floor near San Clemente Island this week belongs to a San Diego man who has been missing since October, the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed Wednesday.
Coronado resident Lee Racicot, a 60-year-old civilian Navy employee, was reported missing on Oct. 8, 2014, when he didn’t show up to work at the island. Officials believe he had gone fishing off the coast the night before.
For more than two days, Navy and Coast Guard helicopters and ships combed the area, but they could not find him.
But on Sunday, a recreational diver saw a man’s body about 100 feet below the water’s surface. Recovery crews were able to pull the body out Monday morning, allowing the coroner’s office to identify it as Racicot’s.
His cause of death has not been determined.
Before his disappearance, Racicot lived on his boat at the Coronado Yacht Club, according to his friends.
“He loved the water. He loved to fish. He loved to go lobstering. He loved to do all of those kind of things,” longtime friend Marylee Goyan told NBC7 in October.
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San Clemente Island is a Navy bombing range. Nearly all military and civilian personnel do not live on the island but stay there while working.
Racicot was an employee for Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island (NALFSCI). He helped organize recreational activities for personnel, Navy spokesman Jon Nylander said.
