HUNTINGTON BEACH : Man Discovered at Bottom of Pool

A 29-year-old Huntington Beach man found at the bottom of a pool at a beachfront hotel was declared dead early Monday morning, police said.

Two employees of the Waterfront Hilton at Huntington Beach saw Mike Dale Sheneman in the bottom of the heated hotel pool at 11:45 p.m. Sunday during a routine check of the pool area, Dave Dickstein, a hotel spokesman, said.

The employees pulled the body out and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation until police and paramedics arrived, Dickstein said. Paramedics continued CPR, and Sheneman was taken to Pacifica Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 1 a.m., Police Lt. Charles Poe said.

A spokeswoman with the Orange County coroner’s office said an autopsy performed Monday was inconclusive. The coroner will not declare a cause of death until toxicology tests are completed, which could take as long as 20 weeks.

The pool is 4 feet at its deepest point, a hotel security guard said. Sheneman’s wallet, clothes and car keys were poolside, and his car was parked in the subterranean hotel parking lot, Dickstein said.

Dickstein said Sheneman, found wearing his underwear, was not a registered guest at the hotel and apparently did not know anyone staying there.

The hotel closes the pool at 10 p.m., and security guards on a regular check did not see anyone in the pool when they passed at 10:15 p.m., Dickstein said.

Someone could have entered the pool by walking through the hotel lobby because doors leading to the outdoor, peanut-shaped pool were unlocked, he said.

Greg Dunham, Sheneman’s neighbor, said he did not know why Sheneman went to the hotel Sunday night. Dunham said he and Sheneman went to the hotel bar occasionally on Friday nights.

Dunham described Sheneman as athletic, saying the construction worker liked to ski, camp and surf. “Everything doesn’t really fit,” Dunham said.

“He surfed all the time (at Huntington Beach). He was a good swimmer. . . . It could be just a freak accident,” Dunham said.