Crime & Safety

Body Found in Lagoon ID'd as Long Beach Woman

L.A. Coroner identified her as Debby Winsberg and is investigating the death as a possible suicide.

The body of a woman found Friday morning in the Colorado Lagoon has been identified by the Los Angeles Coroner's Office as Debby Winsberg, 51, of Long Beach. Coroner's Lt. Dave Smith said her death is being investigated as a suicide but that an autopsy would need to be conducted in a few days.

The Long Beach Police Department said it was called to the Lagoon at 8:35 a.m. Friday about the discovery of a woman's body. They released no information about who found Winsberg, where or how. Spokeswoman Lisa Massacani said the preliminary investigation suggested that the death was by suicide.

Several Patch readers called or e-mailed to say they had driven by the Lagoon and seen police cars, or a body on a stretcher, and were concerned about who might have been harmed.

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There is substantial pedestrian and vehicle traffic around the Lagoon at 8:30 a.m., as parents and students walk to nearby Rogers Middle School and Lowell Elementary; and commuters are driving off to work in the Belmont Heights neighborhood.

Friday's death was the second time this year a body has been found in the Colorado Lagoon. A Compton man's body was found in May and early reports were that it was potentially suicide but soon after, authorities said garments dropped along the sand toward the water indicated he may have gone swimming and had an accident.

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The lagoon is ordinarily a residential oasis flanked by several neighborhoods, with a charming wood wharf, a playground and picnic areas on a shallow sandy beach.

But on Friday morning, with rain sprinkling down, the spot was deserted but for members of the Long Beach Police Department and Long Beach Dive Team, who set up on the pier. At least one of them could be seen in the water in the early afternoon.

The scene was somber, quiet--much different from the usual hustle and bustle of children and their familes on the playground or running on the beach--as divers donned black wet suits and prepared to enter the water in search of evidence that may lead to information about the death.


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