SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The San Diego Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Thursday that a body found in Otay Mesa on Wednesday is that a man who went missing over the weekend after going on a solo dirt bike ride at Otay Mountain. The man's daughter shared a post on Facebook Wednesday afternoon saying it was her father and asking for privacy. Sheriffs and volunteers had been searching for 48-year-old Roberto “Bobby” Camou since Saturday after he failed to return home after his ride.
Camou's body was discovered just before noon on a rugged trail south of Otay Mountain near Alta Road, according to sheriffs. The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet provided a manner and cause of death.
Camou headed out into the Otay Mountain wilderness area Saturday morning and sent a selfie from the area to family members via Snapchat at 12:22 p.m., according to a Facebook post by his daughter Katie Camou. The father – seen in the photo with a red, Beta dual-sport motorcycle – was supposed to return home by 4:30 p.m. Saturday, but never showed up.
“Not hearing from him is making us very scared. This feels like a living nightmare,” the daughter posted on Facebook Sunday morning.
Katie posted again on Facebook Wednesday afternoon thanking volunteers and asking for space and time for the family as they grieve.
Wednesday would have been Camou's 49th birthday.
Camou was known as a skilled dual-sport motorcycle rider and worked as a courtroom clerk at the Chula Vista courthouse.
Deputies and search-and-rescue volunteers searched for him for days, assisted by personnel with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the U.S. Border Patrol, the state Department of Parks and Recreation, and the California Office of Emergency Services.
San Diego sheriff’s choppers had been circling the Otay Mountain area during the day and using infrared cameras at night. The search team averaged 50 members per day in addition to volunteer hikers with dogs and dirt bike riders who scoured the area on their own
The San Diego Sheriff's Department thanked 87 volunteers from its search and rescue unit and San Diego Mountain Rescue for their efforts in searching for Camou.