VENTURA : Body of Scuba Diver Found Near Harbor
Exactly three weeks after Edward Lee Skidmore disappeared while scuba diving off Ventura Harbor, his body was found Saturday.
A fisherman spotted the body in rocks off a jetty near the harbor sometime before 9 a.m., said Lt. Paul Anderson of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. He said the body appeared to be intact and that some scuba-diving equipment was still attached.
Deputy Coroner Zelmira Isaac said the body had been identified as Skidmore’s. The 41-year-old Van Nuys man disappeared about 5:30 p.m. Oct. 2 while diving with two friends.
Authorities had not determined what caused the death.
Witnesses told officials that Skidmore, an experienced scuba diver, dove into 30-foot-deep water about 100 yards from the north side of the breakwater. Rough waters and poor visibility prevented divers from searching for Skidmore immediately.
Skidmore’s disappearance was the first of two scuba-diving accidents to occur within a week. Six days later, a 53-year-old Texas woman scuba diving off Anacapa Island had to be rescued by the Coast Guard after being trapped under water for 12 minutes.
The woman survived after being rushed to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where she was placed in a sealed decompression chamber.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
