Human remains were found inside a plastic drum floating in the Marina area in Chula Vista Thursday afternoon.
The area is just off J Street and Marina Parkway.
Harbor police received a call at around 10:30 a.m. about a hazard threat floating in the water. Officers were dispatched to the Marina area but did not find anything.
At approximately 12:20 p.m., Harbor police received another call about the object, Chula Vista police said.
A person in a wetsuit wrangled the floating object and was holding on to it when Harbor police arrived on scene.
Officers believed there were human remains inside due to the smell from the barrel, police said.
The barrel appeared to be tied down with some cement blocks. Police believe a metal chain may have also weighed down the barrel before it broke loose and surfaced at the Marina.
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Police say there is no rust on the barrel and it appears to be only a few days old.
Some concerned family members, like Albert Molina, gathered in the area, wondering if the body matched the description of a missing loved one.
"We saw the news and my wife sent me a text and I picked her up from work and just something inside was uneasy and nervous," Molina said.
He told NBC 7, his friend Omar Medina, 28, has been missing since Sept. 30. Medina lives in Chula Vista and it was the last place he was seen.
But at this time, the body has not been identified.
No other information was available.
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