SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Authorities have identified the teenager that was found dead in a pond in Otay Valley Regional Park Friday morning as a missing 15-year-old.
Julian Nahum Guerrero Vasquez, 15, was reported as a missing runaway from the nearby area by family and friends in the Palm City neighborhood the day before he was dead found in Fenton Pond in Otay Valley Regional Park near the Otay River.
Those close to him reported they were concerned for his safety as he had severe autism and told us they had been searching for him since Thursday morning. He was last seen by family around midnight Thursday.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office announced his identity to the public Monday morning. According to the office, Guerrero Vasquez was found partially submerged in the pond. San Diego Police and lifeguards responded at 11:41 a.m. on Friday and pronounced him dead at the scene. It is unclear how long he had been there.
The San Diego Police Department reports family and church members searching for him alerted officers in the 2100 block of Beyer Boulevard that they found a body floating in the pond in the Otay Valley Regional Park.
The cause and circumstances that led to his death are still under investigation by the San Diego Police Department. Officers at the scene reported not seeing any signs of physical trauma on him when they pulled him from the water.
However, he was not the only person police found dead in the Otay Valley Regional Park on Friday.
Chula Vista Police also found the body of a man in his 60s — who is believed to be homeless and still has yet to be identified by the medical examiner’s office –around 10 a.m. on Friday in the nearby area. Police did confirm he was not in the water where Guerrero Vasquez was found and police say the two deaths appear not to be related but an investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with more information can call the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office at 858-694-2895.
