A diver who went missing in the ocean near an oil platform off the Southern California coast was found dead, authorities said.
The search began Sunday morning in the area surrounding the oil processing facility known as platform Elly, about 5 miles off Huntington Beach, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Twitter.
Sonar equipment on a Long Beach Fire Department vessel located the missing person’s body at a depth of about 250 feet around 3 p.m., department spokesman Brian Fisk said.
The body was pulled from the ocean and handed over to Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials Sunday evening, Coast Guard officials said.
The diver’s identity was withheld pending the notification of relatives, the Orange County Register said. Authorities originally described the victim as a commercial diver, but later indicated he or she was a recreational diver.
A pipeline running to platform Elly spilled tens of thousands of gallons of heavy crude last October, in one of the worst oil spills in recent California history.