A 22-year-old man was found unconscious at the foot of a cliff at Stone Steps Beach early Thursday and died in a trauma center several hours later.
A passer-by found Ian Barry of Encinitas on the shoreline near the intersection of Neptune Avenue and North El Portal Street shortly before 3:30 a.m., according to sheriff's officials and the county Medical Examiner's Office.
Medics took Barry to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where he was pronounced dead about 7:30 a.m.
Though it appeared Barry had fallen to his death from the sea bluff next to the beach, a cause-of-death ruling was on hold pending autopsy results, the medical examiner reported.
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skating above, riding rails in a tumble of clouds, now cresting, with the tide, carving initials in a blaze of glory; electric arc, ringing bright constellations of luminescence, trails, of stardust dreams around this nearly full autumn equinox harvest moon . . .