Missing San Diego couple found dead in Baja California

 ”stevectpa” for Borderland Beat; CBS8

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Police Department confirmed Friday that two bodies found in Baja, Mexcio have been identified as the remains of a San Diego couple, missing since last weekend. “They are now confirmed deceased in Mexico and family has been notified,” a SDPD spokesperson wrote in an email to News 8.

Mexican authorities discovered the couple’s vehicle in Ensenada earlier in the week, according to a family member.  The bodies were found but the exact location was not released. Relatives said there is an active, law-enforcement investigation into the deaths and foul play is suspected.

The retired couple, Ian Hirschsohn, 78, of Solana Beach and Kathy Harvey, 73, of Tierrasanta, had been staying for about a week at a house near El Socorrito south of San Quintin, about 200 miles south of the border, according to family members.

Kathy Harvey texted her son, Robert Harvey, on the evening of Friday, August 28, indicating they were planning on going to explore a gold mine or possibly visit a beach, the son said. The couple was planning on returning to San Diego on August 31 but family members lost contact with them.

Robert Harvey said he received word from the office of the Consulate General in Tijuana that the couple’s navy-blue Toyota Land Cruiser had been found in Ensenada earlier this week. Two bodies discovered Friday matched the couple’s description, and the remains were being forensically identified. Kathy Harvey worked for three decades as a physical therapist in Chula Vista before her retirement, Robert Harvey said.

“She was really enjoying retirement and had multiple groups of friends,” her son said.  “She loved walking and traveling.  She had a huge bucket list of where she wanted to go.”

Both Harvey and Hirschsohn enjoyed traveling and frequently stayed in the community of expats near El Socorrito, in a house Hirschsohn had leased for the past 35 years, according to family members.

As reported by Borderland Beat, a Los Angeles firefighter went missing last month while he visited his condo in Rosarito Municipality, a coastal town south of Tijuana and less than 30 minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border.