Body Found in Kelp Bed Is Identified
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A body discovered in a kelp bed off the southwestern shore of Santa Rosa Island was identified Friday as that of Elwin O. Swint Jr., who disappeared in late August while diving for sea urchins, authorities said.
An autopsy Friday concluded that the 53-year-old Santa Barbara resident drowned, said Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Sgt. Bill Turner.
Swint’s body was spotted Thursday afternoon by passengers in a commercial fishing boat, Turner said.
He was last seen Aug. 24 by people on a sailboat who saw him in waters off the island yelling for help, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. By the time the sailboat reached Swint’s location, he had vanished.
Authorities believe the sailboat’s rudder accidentally cut Swint’s air line. The body was found in a wetsuit that had a severed breathing tube attached to it, Petty Officer Dawn Butler said Friday.
A tangled air hose was also found wrapped around the rudder of the sailboat the day Swint disappeared, Butler said. The case remains under investigation.
Swint, who is survived by a sister, was a former Navy SEAL who worked as a commercial fisherman for more than 20 years.
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