The body of an off-duty Los Angeles firefighter who went missing late last year while diving in the Port of Long Beach was recovered in the waters off Long Beach, authorities said today.
The body of 29-year-old Firefighter Connor J. Lees was recovered Friday by the Long Beach Police Department, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Fire Department, which expressed its “profound sadness.”
“The LAFD stands united in grief alongside firefighter Lees’ family, friends and colleagues,” the LAFD statement said. “We extend our deepest condolences to all who knew and loved him.”
Lees went missing Dec. 4 while diving for lobster with friends around 9:45 p.m. near Pier J, according to authorities.
At the time, Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Brian Fisk said he had been freediving in an area of water that was about 30 to 40 feet deep.
A systematic search with divers and boats turned up nothing and was eventually called off.
“This is hitting the fire family very hard,” LAFD spokesman Adam VanGerpen said at the time.
A GoFundMe later raised tens of thousands of dollars for Lee’s family.
“He loved the water and everything it brings to our lives,” Robin Jenks, the fundraiser’s organizer, wrote. “It shaped him into the boy, the son, the brother, the friend, the athlete, the surfer, the explorer, the firefighter, the companion, and the man he became.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the day Lees’ body was found.