Man Who Leaped With Son Off Bridge Was in Bitter Divorce
A man who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge with his son in his arms appeared untroubled only hours earlier, when he spent Thanksgiving with relatives, family members said.
The Coast Guard identified the man as Filomeno Maninag de la Cruz, 37, of Daly City. His body was recovered soon after he jumped Thursday afternoon. The search for the child’s body was suspended late Thursday.
Relatives said Cruz left a family gathering about 4 p.m. Thursday. He jumped about an hour later.
He was going through a bitter divorce and custody dispute, the relatives said, adding that he told them he planned to return to the Philippines with his son, Michael.
The Thanksgiving Day tragedy was the second time in less than a year that a man plunged to his death from the bridge taking a child with him.
The Coast Guard said the child was 2 years old.
There have been 940 known deaths from jumping or being tossed from the span since it opened in 1937. Twenty-two people are known to have survived the plunge.
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