Vigil held for Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter Connor Lees weeks after missing at sea

The Seal Beach community gathered en masse Sunday night to remember 29-year-old Connor Lees, the Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter who went missing at sea while free diving just over two weeks ago.  

Lees was free diving in Long Beach on Dec. 4 with two other men near the Pier J fishing pier. The other men returned to a boat they had all been on and reported Lees missing around 9:55 p.m. as he had not returned to the boat. 

While Lees was wearing a mask, he had no tank in an area of the ocean that's about 30 to 40 feet deep, said Brian Fisk, a spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department. 

Community members, family, and LAFD family gathered on the Seal Beach Pier and on the beach sand Sunday night, holding candles as a fire truck hoisted a flag over the prayer and vigil. Lees served with LAFD for six years.  

"It always feels like when it affects one family in Seal, it affects us all. So, we really wanted to come out and just know that they have our support and you can feel the love in the community tonight," Alexandria Van Voris said.  

Nineteen divers from seven different local law enforcement agencies joined the search for Lees by 7 a.m. the next morning after he was reported missing. 

Fisk said silty conditions made it difficult to see underwater in the area where Lees went missing. By Thursday evening, after 19 hours of searching, the search and rescue mission transitioned to a recovery operation. 

A GoFundMe page raising funds for the Lees family said, "For now, we are assured that he is where he always wanted to be." 

"He loved the water and everything it brings to our lives. It shaped him into the boy, the son, the brother, the friend, the athlete, the surfer, the explorer, the firefighter, the companion, and the man he became. In his time, Connor will tell us how he and the sea forever remain connected."