Body found in harbor identified as 49-year-old Costa Mesa man

Joseph Serna and Brianna Bailey

The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner's office has identified a man, whose body was found floating in Newport Harbor Saturday morning, as David Mattew Szwast, 49, of Costa Mesa.

A cause of death has yet to be determined. The Sheriff-Coroner's office is awaiting toxicology test results.

When two kayakers found Szwast around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, he was fully clothed and floating in the middle of the harbor near the Orange Coast College sailing center in the 1800 block of West Coast Highway, said Newport Beach Sgt. Shontel Sherwood.

The Orange County Harbor Patrol first responded, and the man was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he was pronounced dead, Sherwood said. Newport Beach police were later called to the area, she said.

“It was strange because they found him face-down, fully clothed, and there were no other boats around,” said Susan Caustin, who was out rowing on Newport Harbor early Saturday morning and saw the man after the kayakers had already pulled him into their boat.