Diver Drowns Near Ocean Beach
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A 34-year-old Escondido man drowned Saturday while diving with two friends off a boat in Ocean Beach, lifeguard spokesman Lt. Brant Bass reported.
Milton E. Smith Jr. was pronounced dead at 1:41 p.m. at the UCSD Medical Center, about 40 minutes after his friends first attempted to resuscitate him.
Smith became separated from his friends while diving about a half mile from the Point Loma shore. When the friends surfaced, they found Smith’s body floating some distance from the boat.
Lifeguards and paramedics, who arrived shortly, tried to revive Smith.
Bass said it is likely that Smith, whose air tank was empty, became entangled in a kelp bed.
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