Ocean Beach drowning victim Brian Wilson, 23. ( / Facebook)

The Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday night confirmed that the man whose body was found Monday evening in Ocean Beach is Brian Wilson, who went missing after swimming there Sunday.

Friends of Wilson, 23, gathered Tuesday night at the foot of Santa Cruz Avenue in the Sunset Cliffs area, where Wilson and friends had been Sunday when he went swimming with a friend and did not return to shore.

Lifeguards had been searching for Wilson since about 5 p.m. Sunday. The Coast Guard joined the search late Sunday night.


Two lifeguards on a Jet Ski during low tide saw what appeared to be a body about 5:40 p.m. Monday wedged onto the rocks near the foot of Orchard Avenue, a few blocks from Santa Cruz Avenue, lifeguard Lt. Andy Lerum said.

Lerum said the area at the foot of Santa Cruz, known locally as Santa Cruz Beach, has increasingly become a popular local swimming spot, but he said it is dangerous because of rocks and reefs, and no lifeguard is stationed there.

Wilson was reported to be a good swimmer, but friends said he had consumed “quite a bit of alcohol,” Lerum said.

No one saw him struggle and go under, Lerum said. Friends delayed calling 911 for about 30 minutes, Lerum said, thinking he was somewhere in the area.


More than 20 lifeguard divers searched Sunday until the effort was called off because of poor visibility and a heavy rip current.

On Monday, the search effort became a recovery mission.

According to Wilson’s Facebook page, he graduated from El Capitan High School in Lakeside and was the father of a baby girl.