To honor 29-year-old Connor Lees, a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department who vanished at sea while free diving just over two weeks ago, the Seal Beach community came together in large numbers on Sunday night.
On December 4, Lees and two other guys were freediving in Long Beach, close to the Pier J fishing pier. Around 9:55 p.m., the other men went back to the boat they had all been on, but Lee had not come back, so they reported him missing.
According to Brian Fisk, a spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department, Lees had no tank in a section of the water that is between thirty and forty feet deep while donning a mask.
On Sunday night, as a fire vehicle raised a flag over the prayer and vigil, locals, relatives, and LAFD family gathered on the beach sand and on the Seal Beach Pier, carrying candles. Lees spent six years with LAFD.
“It always seems like we are all impacted when one Seal family is impacted. Alexandria Van Voris stated, “We really wanted to come out and let them know that they have our support and that the community is full of love tonight.”
Lees was reported missing, and by 7 a.m. the next day, 19 divers from seven local law enforcement organizations had joined the search.
According to Fisk, the region where Lees vanished was difficult to detect underwater due to silty conditions. After 19 hours of searching, the search and rescue effort changed to a recovery operation by Thursday night.
The Lees family’s GoFundMe website stated, “For now, we are assured that he is where he always wanted to be.”
“He cherished the water and all that it offers us. It helped mold him into the man he became, as well as the boy, son, brother, friend, athlete, surfer, explorer, firefighter, and companion. Connor will explain to us how he and the sea are inextricably linked when the time comes.
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