DEL MAR — Authorities have publicly identified a 60-year-old man who passed out while wading in the ocean last week near the mouth of the San Dieguito River and died a short time later at a hospital.
Robert Rothwell of San Diego was standing waist-deep in the surf at North Beach in Del Mar at about 4 p.m. on June 8 when he appeared to become distressed and began waving toward shore, according to the county Medical Examiner’s Office and the city lifeguard department.
As lifeguards responded to the emergency, Rothwell collapsed and became unresponsive, Del Mar Director of Community Services Jon Edelbrock said.
Paramedics took Rothwell to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
A ruling on the cause of Rothwell’s death remains on hold pending completion of postmortem examinations, the county agency reported.
