Bodies of man, woman found below 100-foot sea cliff pose mystery, California cops say

Update: On Friday, authorities identified the man and woman as Brandon Escobar, 23, of San Pedro and Rayana Valdez, 21, of Covina, the Palos Verdes Peninsula News reported. Their deaths have been ruled accidental.

Hikers found the bodies of a man and woman below a 100-foot ocean cliff Monday evening near a San Pedro park, California authorities say.

“We’re unable to exactly know the nature of the fall or the reason for it,” Sgt. Osvaldo Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Police Department told KABC.

The cliffs near Point Fermin Park are known for incidents involving suicide, but people also sometimes slip and fall from nearby trails, KABC reported.

Hikers reported finding the bodies at 5:19 p.m., but it’s not known how long they were there, KTLA reported.

The Los Angeles Fire Department recovered the bodies after dark using a ladder truck to hoist litter baskets, firefighters wrote on Twitter.

“It took quite an effort from the Los Angeles Fire Department to extract the bodies and bring them up,” Gonzalez told KCBS. Firefighters had to rappel down the cliff to the bodies.

Investigators say the man and woman appear to be in their 20s, KABC reported. Their identities have not been released.

This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 8:24 AM with the headline "Bodies of man, woman found below 100-foot sea cliff pose mystery, California cops say."