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Credit: Pray It No Photography, FlickrPolice have shared another update after a death occurred outside SeaWorld San Diego.
SeaWorld San Diego, located in Mission Bay, has been a Southern California landmark since 1964. Known for its marine life exhibits, rescue and rehabilitation efforts, and mix of rides and shows, the park combines entertainment with education – and a hefty dose of controversy thanks to its continued use of killer whales for entertainment, plus recent legal dramas over its decision not to pay rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, the theme park – which is SeaWorld’s original park – was the scene of a shocking accident.
Body Located Outside SeaWorld San Diego
In the early hours of Saturday (August 30), drivers leaving Ocean Beach and Point Loma encountered a major disruption: police had closed lanes on the bridge over the San Diego River near Sea World Drive. The closure stemmed from a two-car hit-and-run collision that took place around midnight in the 100 block of Sea World Drive.
Investigators determined that the crash began when the driver of a 2013 Honda rear-ended another vehicle before fleeing the scene. The Honda was later recovered, but the driver was not located. By about 2 a.m., authorities had cleared the roadway.
Hours later, at roughly 1 p.m., police were called after a body was spotted nearby. Responding officers identified the deceased as a 61-year-old woman.
While she was first believed to have been a pedestrian struck in the incident, investigators have now confirmed that she was actually a passenger.
Celeste Necochea was found amid trees and shrubbery by the road. Investigators now believe that Necochea was riding in one of the cars that crashed in the area the previous night.
Past Incidents At Theme Parks
This isn’t the first time a fatal vehicular accident has occurred outside a theme park.
In 2024, a teenager passed away in a car crash after leaving Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s beloved theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Tyler Brandes – the leader of Boy Scouts Troop 128 in Sparta, of which 13-year-old Aidan Linville had been a part for the preceding years – told a local Tennessee television station, “He just had a blast, a lot of fun, enjoying the rides and being with his friends. His dad is a single father; his dad is an amputee who lost his arm in an industrial accident, actually, so he was always helping his dad with things.”
That same year, a driver sadly died after two cars collided on the onramp from Disneyland Drive to the Interstate 5 Freeway in Anaheim, California.
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