BODY IN MISSION TRAILS PARK BELIEVED TO BE MISSING RUNNER

Max Lenail, 21, last seen alive on Friday; body found Saturday

Hikers found a body in water in Mission Trails Regional Park on Saturday afternoon, and police believe it is a 21year-old San Diego man who disappeared there a day earlier while out for a run.

A community search effort had already been under way in the park for Max Lenail when the body was found.

“At about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, police received a 911 call reporting a body found near a waterfall,” San Diego police Officer Darius Jamsetjee said. He said police contacted firefighters, who extricated the body.

Jamsetjee said that while they believe the body is Lenail, final confirmation will come from the Medical Examiner’s Office. It will also determine his cause of death. Lenail’s parents each posted Facebook messages announcing their son had been found dead.

“This is Max’s Mom. I’m sad to report that they have found and retrieved Max Lenail’s body from the Mission Trails park. It is every parent’s worst nightmare,” read a post by Lauri Yoler on a Facebook page set up to support the search efforts.

His father, Ben Lenail, wrote on his personal Facebook page: “With unspeakable grief, I have to report that our beloved Max is dead.”

“He was the victim of a freak accident while hiking in the wilderness near San Diego yesterday,” the post read. “As immensely cruel as his death is, we are grateful to God for loaning him to us for 21 years.”

Max Lenail’s Facebook page was last updated a little more than a year ago, but states that he had graduated from Palo Alto High School, and in 2017 started attending Brown University in Rhode Island, where he studied biology.

Flyers announcing the search said Lenail had been seen about 10:30 a.m. Friday as he left North Park and headed for the Junipero Serra Trail, one of several trails in the park.

The Sheriff ’s Department Search and Rescue team was among those who looked for Lenail.