LOS ANGELES, CA. (THECOUNT) — Runner, retired Dr. Frank Meza, who was disqualified from the Los Angeles Marathon recently and then found face down in the Los Angeles river, committed suicide, according to coroner’s office Monday.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a report of a body in the river lying in shallow water shortly before 10 a.m. on July 4 in the Cypress Park area.
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The cause of death was not suspected to be from drowning, officials said at the time.
Meza, who set a record time for his age group in the L.A. Marathon, finished the marathon with an official time of 2:53:10. The next person behind him in the group finished with a time of 4:10:07. He was later disqualified.
The performance was astonishing – so much that marathon investigator Derek Murphy took a closer look. He says he found video that shows Meza leaving the course.
“What you see is he comes onto the course after being along the sidewalk for an unknown period of time,” Murphy said. “I looked back 6 minutes (on the video) and he was never on the portion of the course leading up to the sidewalk so it showed me he didn’t run that full part of the course,” reports ABC7.
The marathon disqualified Meza for alleged cheating and awarded the win for the age group to the second finisher.
Meza’s other marathon times are also under scrutiny, including the 2019 Sprouts Mesa-Phoenix Marathon. Organizers are investigating his finish time. Their statement reads in part:
Meza founded Aztlan Track Club in 1974. he also coached cross-country track at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. The school said he stepped down in June for health reasons.
A cause of death was not provided.
DEVELOPING::