The Region - News from July 7, 1987

It was all a big misunderstanding, said Daniel Lavin, 22, of San Diego, after he read in the papers that he and fellow diver George Spalding, also 22, were believed to have drowned off the coast of Baja California over the weekend. Lavin said he and Spalding were caught in a strong current, but that Spalding managed to get ashore, ask someone to notify the U.S. Coast Guard and then rented an inflatable boat to rescue Lavin. In the meantime, a Long Beach Coast Guard spokesman said, the Ensenada port captain said he heard a radio report indicating that a fishing boat had picked up two bodies. That report apparently was attributed by error to Mexican officials. Confusion still clouded the reported Mexican refusal to allow Coast Guard search planes into the area.