LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The body of a diver discovered about 30 yards off the coast of La Jolla Sunday was identified Monday by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
Jimmy Somphirigna Tanovan, 35, was found on a rock around 8:40 p.m. about one mile south of the Children’s Pool.
Chris Lafornara, who was house-sitting at an apartment in the area, said he met and spoke with Tanovan before he went in the ocean around 6:15 p.m.
Lafornara said he was friendly and excited about using his new SCUBA equipment. He asked if Tanovan would pick him up a lobster.
Lafornara said he thought something was wrong when the diver didn’t return after a couple of hours.
“When I saw the light on the rock, I knew he was either barely making it, or he was dead,” Lafornara said. “I came back up and called the cops.”
Tanovan was pronounced dead at the scene by lifeguards.
Tanovan's mother, Paulina Banhthanavong, said, "I miss him. I don't know what I'm going to do."
Tanovan and his mother left Laos as refugees when he was just 11 months old.
"We moved to the United States because I wanted him to have a future [and] freedom," Banhthanavong told 10News.
Tanovan was free to pursue his many passions, which his girlfriend, Stephanie Fong, admired about him.
"He was a very accomplished musician," Fong said. "He played the guitar, the bass, the piano, the drums …"
Fong said he was pursuing a music degree at UCSD, and prior to that he served in the U.S. Navy for nine years. Tanovan recently joined the Navy Reserve.
"He loved serving, and he was very involved with the church," Fong said. "The reason why I fell in love with him was because he was a man of God."
"He came to church, he served as an usher, he took his girlfriend out for lunch afterwards and he Skyped his brother later that afternoon," said Pastor Julia Pearson.
His brother, who is serving in the military in Afghanistan, is headed back for the funeral.
Tanovan was known to give lobster dinners for his family and friends.
"He just loved catching lobster and he loved seafood and one of his other passions was cooking," said Fong. "I believe that he's right now standing at the throne with Jesus, probably eating some lobster."
The cause of Tanovan's death was under investigation.
