A 70-year-old runner who was disqualified from the Los Angeles marathon was found dead in the Los Angeles River. Frank Meza set a new record for his age group, finishing the March race in a time of 2:53:10. His record time raised some eyebrows, as the next closest person in that age group crossed the finish line over an hour later.
On June 28, race officials announced that Meza would be disqualified after they found evidence he left the course. Organizers of the race reviewed video evidence which captured Meza taking a shortcut and took away his record. Dan Adams was awarded first place in the 70-74 age group with a time of 4:10:07.
Meza denied the allegations, claiming that he left the course to go to the bathroom and did not take a shortcut.
On Thursday (July 4), Meza told his wife that he was going for a run. He never returned, and authorities found his body in shallow water. They say that it does not appear he died from drowning. Officials are conducting an autopsy to determine his cause of death.
“He has two children and three grandchildren who will miss him very much,” his wife, Tina, told the Daily Beast.