Missing Swedish tourist found dead in San Diego

Or, Traveler, if you knew anything about the area

1. You NEVER go out in So Cal without ID and a cell phone, ID at least.

2. The weather here gets dry and hot very quickly. You are dehydrated before you even know what hit you. Most people carry water with them whenever they are out. Even if running errands.

3. Most runners DON'T run in the midday heat.

4. It's very easy to lose sight of someone due to the high growth of brush in these areas where this guy disappeared. Escondido is inland, actually quite a ways from the San Diego that sits along the ocean, it is actually more desert and can be VERY inhospitable during the summer. Hot, dry and full of snakes and other nice creatures.

5. And, number one rule...educate yourself on the climate and geography of an area you are visiting. It could save your life!

yea that's too bad. it's good to hear that they went all out to find him. shame they couldn't get to him while still alive. something i have never heard while living in europe is volunteers helping a search and rescue.

@americanska maybe you need to read the local european press then...

Some examples for you:

http://www.thelocal.se/16676/20090102

http://www.thelocal.se/11082/20080413

Anywho, the death is tragic.

@Traveler2010

Perhaps it might be best if you kept your gut instincts to yourself in future.

In that area, in those temperatures, it is very easy to make a mistake and die. When you hear hooves, look for horses, not zebras.

How does the friend just 'lose sight' of him? Smells fishy to me.

@ americanska

That is a blatant lie.

Every country in Europe has volunteer services for rescuing people. Most of those people involved in searches are volunteers.

@ Nemesis

Settle down now. I believe @ americanska said "something i have never heard while living in europe is volunteers helping a search and rescue. "

that is not a lie instead i would characterize it as uninformed.

is anyone interested in the story at all. two folks go out for a run and somehow, one got lost in the process turned up dead. there is something wrong with that. you don't go jogging with a friend and return home alone. you have shared responsiblity of ur safety whilst jogging. this is just bizzare. if i have a friend of the kind the late Reza had, i sure wont need an enemy. this fellow should be seriously investigated by the police. some manner of friend.

Some of the comments here seem written by people who have no knowledge of San Diego weather in the summer, the territory involved or running in company.

Serious joggers and runners do not always run togethor; the faster one pulls ahead, and waits for the slower one at sensible intervals. The fact that the friends were running in 38 degrees tells us they were certainly serious runners. We learn from the text above, that the dead man was a visitor and his friend a local. This means they probably did not run togethor often, and had not yet developed the necessary etiquete between friends that run togethor. The local, being aclimatised to the heat, was probably the faster runner, and it is not suspicious that he pulled ahead.

We learn from CGT001A's sensible and informed post that the country is difficult, dangerpous, visibility often obscured by brush, and very very hot.

There are many many ways a person can quickly die in country like that, especially a visitor, and even more so, a person who has already pushed his body to the extreme by running in 38 degrees. One wrong turm, one unlucky stumble, one suprised snake and snap, it's over. The dead man probably simply dehydrated, for one reason or another, become confused and wandered about in a daze until he sat down for a rest, that proved to be eternal. Or stumbled from the cliff under which he was found. Not nearly as dramatic as some posters here would like, but far more probable.

I am sure the police will interview the friend, and I am sure they will not be the least bit suprised that a Swedish visitor out running in 38 degrees dropped down dead. As for the scurilous supposition posted here, that has already seen one poster have his post deleted, watch your mouths. The friend might get to hear about your innuendos and sue you for libel. Good, you deserve it.

Why did Reza hide in the bushes? Was he afraid of his friend?

I'm in San Diego County now and this story has been in the news. The reports I have seen said the two men split up after they completed the planned run but this man decided to go further.

Bushes provide some shade. the area in which these men were running is desert, There are no trees and there is no green.

Actually it wasn't a lie nemesis. All the anti American lies and BS you spatter over these walls and you have the gull to call me a lier. you are one classy lady.

My deep sympathy to his family.

I am very familiar with the area and from San Diego, I would never exercise out in the mid-day heat in July in inland San Diego County. Early morning is the time for that activity, while it is still cool. Because of the hazard of rattlesnakes, I would not jog alone without a mobile phone. A man died a few years ago from a snakebite, he out for a run near a busy motorway and no one saw him once he fell down. People in Sweden get so accustomed to safe.

From the current, and continually updated, san diego medical examiner online report: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/me/press/press.html

Case Number: 10-01471

Name: Next of kin not notified City of Residence:

DOB: Gender: Male

Place of Death: 28400 block Mountain Meadow Road, Escondido CA Place of injury: ,

Date/Time of Death: 7/19/2010 8:20:00 AM Date/Time injury:

Summary: The decedent was a yet to be identified male of undetermined ethicity who was approximately 20-40 years of age. On 07/19/2010, his body was found in a ravine by San Diego Sheriff Detectives who were in unincorporated Escondido searching for a missing person. Identification is pending.

Cause of Death/Updated Cause of Death: Pending

Contributing Conditions:

Manner: Pending

Investigating Agency: San Diego Sheriff Next of kin notified? No

Here's my copy of how this same "Case Number" was saved by me on July 20, 2010 at 6:32 PT:

01471

Name: Next of kin not

notified City of Residence:

DOB: Gender: Male

Place of Death:

28400 block Mountain

Meadow Road,

Escondido CA

Place of injury: ,

Date/Time of Death:

7/19/2010 8:20:00 AM Date/Time injury:

Summary: The decedent was a yet to be

identified male of undetermined ethicity who

was approximately 20-40 years of age. On

07/19/2010, his body was found in a ravine by

San Diego Sheriff Detectives who were in

unincorporated Escondido searching for a

missing person. As of 07/19/2010, an

examination has yet to be scheduled. Identity

has yet to be confirmed due to the condition of

the body.

Cause of Death/Updated Cause of Death:

Contributing Conditions:

Manner:

Investigating

Agency: San Diego

Sheriff

Next of kin notified?

We found the phrase "Summary" sentence to be of interest.

San Diego resident

Nobody has mentioned the withness who saw the unfortunate man hobbling on the side of the road with what appeared to be a sprained ankle and did ......what? contacted the police afterwards,didn't think to offer assistence at the time it seems,I can see that some people think the stories a little strange.