1:03 pm | July 5, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
A 70-year-old runner who was recently disqualified from the L.A. Marathon for cutting the course was found dead in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to his wife.
Los Angeles Police Department officials told local TV station KABC that a body was found in the Cypress Park area around 10 a.m. Thursday.
Frank Meza’s wife, Tina, confirmed her husband’s death to The Daily Beast, saying he had been devastated by accusations that he was a cheater.
The L.A. Marathon had nullified Meza’s record-setting performance, saying video showed he left the course during the March race.
Meza had finished in 2 hours, 53 minutes, 10 seconds — the fastest time ever for a man his age. But officials with Conqur Endurance Group, which operates the marathon, reviewed race video and security footage from the 26.2-mile event. Officials said the footage showed Meza, a retired physician, stepping off the course and re-entering at another point.
They also said his time during one stretch was so fast as to be “impossible.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that Meza had repeatedly denied cheating. He told the newspaper Monday that he did not cut the course.
Officials told KABC that Meza’s cause of death is not suspected to be from drowning.
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