Diver talks about grim discovery
Mystery still surrounds the death of Rebecca Weiss, a free-diver whose body was found Aug. 18 in the waters below Terranea Resort.
So far, a cause of death has not been ruled in the case. A LA county coroner’s official said toxicology or tissue samples were requested, which could take up to eight weeks.
Weiss, a Marina del Rey resident, reportedly went snorkeling alone on the public beaches below the resort on Aug. 11. When she didn’t return home that evening, her husband, Allan Weiss, told police he drove to the site, discovered her car in the parking lot above the beach and alerted police.
At first, Rebecca’s family accused her husband of suspicious behavior. But police said from the beginning that he was not a suspect.
After her body was discovered by a group of recreational divers the following weekend, the family has not repeated the claims. Attempts to contact several family members were unsuccessful.
Lars Dennert, one of the divers who found Weiss, talked about the discovery and the plausible explanation for her death. Dennert and three other members of the Pasadena-based Sole Searchers Dive Club found Weiss in the sand on the seafloor bottom about 200 yards off the coast. She was wearing a weight belt and wet suit, he said.
“The dive conditions weren’t very good,” Dennert said. “There was only about five to 10 feet of visibility, sometimes two to three feet. Staying with your dive buddy was tricky. So you can imagine there was a lot of luck involved.”
Dennert said the group had planned at least a month in advance to dive at the location that day. When Dennert and the others arrived a week after Weiss went missing, they were prepared to take part in an ad hoc search on their own.
The parking lot was filled with police officers, media vans and family members handing out fliers. After the divers made the discovery and recovered the body, Dennert said the family showed a lot of appreciation.
“That was an emotional experience, of course,” Dennert said. “The family was happy that we at least found her and brought some closure, but obviously disappointed that she didn’t show up alive.”
For Dennert and the others, the first couple days after the grim discovery were trying, he said.
“You think about it a lot,” he said. “We talked about it and came to the conclusion we did the best we could under the circumstances and hopefully helped the situation along.”
Diving hazards
The waters below the cliffs at Terranea have been a popular dive spot since Marineland of the Pacific occupied the property. Dennert says the waters are protected by a coral reef and a flow of cool water that tends to support kelp and abundant sea life, which makes it a fun place to dive.
For free-divers, who rely on holding their breath without oxygen tanks, he said the biggest danger is called shallow-water black out where divers simply try to hold their breath for too long and pass out underwater. Dennert believes this is possibly what happened to Weiss.
Free-divers typically take three big inhalations before going down in order to hold their breath longer, said Tony Vanore, dive instructor at Dive N’ Surf in Redondo Beach. Taking four breaths is when divers start to push it, he said.
“On the way up if you stay too long and push the limit you get a build up of carbon dioxide,” Vanore said. “If you continue to hold your breath that triggers your body to go to sleep. The problem is when you pass out underwater you’re passing out underwater. If she’s weighted properly and she comes to the surface she’ll breathe. If you have a buddy with you and he brings you to the surface you’re not going to drown right away.”
Many free-divers take the snorkel out of their mouths so that if they do pass out they don’t take in water. Also being weighted properly is important, Vanore said.
“With a wetsuit on, you should be weighted so you can just barely float on the surface comfortably. You shouldn’t have to fight to stay on the surface,” he said. “You should be able to relax without sinking.”
Another possibility is that she injured herself getting into or out of the water against the rocks, which could have caused her to drown. Dennert said he knows a diver who broke ribs getting out of the water there.
“The bottom line is you don’t want to dive alone,” Dennert said. ER