Huntington Beach : Body Washes Ashore at Huntington State Beach

The body of an 18-year-old Montebello man washed up on Huntington State Beach Wednesday, and Sheriff’s Department homicide investigators are awaiting autopsy and toxicology test results to determine if the death was drug-related.

The victim was Adrian Obregon. Witnesses said they saw him floating face down in the waters off Pacific Coast Highway near Golden West Street before disappearing about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Five divers from the Sheriff’s Department Underwater Search and Rescue Team, assisted by a Huntington Beach Police Department helicopter, began a search but had to give up after about 25 minutes due to darkness and surf conditions, Lt. Dick Olson said. He said detectives will have to wait for the results of toxicology tests to find out whether Obregon was under the influence of any drugs.

The body was discovered by a maintenance worker at Huntington State Beach at about 7 a.m. Wednesday.

While the divers were searching the waters, investigators spoke to witnesses who told them that a man had allegedly been selling drugs to youths in the area where Obregon was last seen. Shortly after obtaining the information, the investigators arrested Mark Edwin Taylor, 29, of Huntington Beach on suspicion of sales of the hallucinogenic drug PCP, Olson said.

A quantity of narcotics was also seized, Olson said, but he wouldn’t reveal how much, what kind of drugs were involved or whether Taylor had the drugs in his possession when arrested. He also declined to say whether there is any evidence that Obregon had purchased drugs.

Taylor was booked into County Jail where bail was set at $25,000.

Olson said it would take “a couple of days” for tests to reveal the nature of the narcotics seized. He said it would take longer to discover whether Obregon, who was wearing a swimsuit, had used drugs, adding that exactly how long wouldn’t be known until after the autopsy is conducted today.