SANTA MONICA—The body of West Hollywood resident Brian Patrick Dunn was discovered early in the morning of July 12, near Venice Beach, south of the Santa Monica Pier. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has confirmed that the body discovered about 300 yards from shore is that of a man reported missing after jumping from the Venice Pier on July 5.
According to investigators, after a night of partying during a Fourth of July celebration, Dunn leapt from the Venice Pier into the rough waters, fully clothed. An LA county fire dispatcher received a call that an unidentified man had jumped into the “rough seas,” as described by U.S. Coast Guard officials. The following morning U.S. Coast Guard members and Los Angeles County lifeguard officials conducted a day-long search using a search helicopter and several boats, belonging to both the Coast Guard and local county rescue.
The search was described as being made more difficult due to 6-to-8-foot waves and strong rip currents, of which likely carried Dunn northwest out to sea, then down the shoreline away from the Venice Pier and towards Santa Monica. Dunn’s brother waited with authorities during the search, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, and Dunn’s car remained parked in the Pier parking lot, providing search agencies with hope that he remained either in the water or somewhere on the beach.
A local fisherman near Santa Monica Bay discovered the body of Dunn “between 8 and 8:30 a.m.,” based on a short statement by LA County Fire Department Captain Sam Tadilla. The ongoing search was called off at around 8 p.m. the day before the body was discovered. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office then confirmed the body to be that of Dunn. The U.S. Coast Guard speculate that the strong rip tide currents surging the night of July 4, could have swept Dunn underwater or out to sea soon after leaping from the pier into the darkness.
