The body of a 21-year-old man who went missing while out for a run was found in water at a San Diego area wilderness park, his family said Saturday.
Volunteers joined authorities in searching for Max Lenail, who disappeared Friday at sprawling Mission Trails Regional Park.
A man's body was found by hikers near a waterfall Saturday afternoon, said San Diego police Officer Darius Jamsetjee.
Jamsetjee said that while police believe the body is Lenail, final confirmation will come from the Medical Examiner’s Office, which will also determine the cause of death.
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Lenail’s parents each posted messages online announcing their son had been found dead, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
“It is every parent‘s worst nightmare,” his mother, Lauri Yoler, wrote on Facebook.
His father, Ben Lenail, said on Facebook that he believes his son had a “freak accident.”
“He knew the wilderness, but he probably slipped and then hit his head and died of a combination of head trauma and hypothermia,” Ben Lenail said.
In 2017 Max Lenail began attending Brown University in Rhode Island, where he studied biology, the newspaper said.
