Body found Saturday near Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara confirmed to be that of missing Spokane man
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner confirmed Tuesday that a body discovered near Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara was that of Ian Powers, a Spokane resident and U.S. Army veteran who disappeared Nov. 12 during a San Francisco 49ers football game.
Duck hunters found his fully clothed body in the marshlike water of Alviso Marina about 2 miles north of the stadium. The medical examiner said Powers died of an accidental drowning in the salt water.
Sean Patrick Powers, an uncle of Powers who lives in California, released a statement Monday on social media confirming his nephew was dead and that he had “probably been in the water since Monday night.”
“Please respect everyone’s grieving process, and only offer condolences, not stories, or theories on how he died,” he wrote. “The speculation just makes things worse.”
The Santa Clara and San Jose police departments had been searching for Powers, 32, since he was separated from his girlfriend and her children during San Francisco 49ers-New York Giants football game Monday night. Initial efforts to search by helicopter were stymied by smoke from area wildfires.
Surveillance video released last week showed Powers, dressed in blue jeans, a red 49ers shirt and hat, walking out of Levi’s Stadium a few minutes before 9 p.m. during the fourth quarter. The camera loses sight of him in the parking lot at 9:03 p.m.
His girlfriend, Chelsea Robbins, told authorities she had texted and video chatted with him around 10 p.m. to set up a place to meet, but then suddenly lost contact with him. However, some of the responses Powers sent “weren’t very reasonable or didn’t make sense,” Santa Clara Police Capt. Wahid Kazem said.
Robbins reported him missing the next morning when he didn’t arrive at their hotel.
Powers attended Shadle Park High School and served in the Washington Army National Guard. He was previously employed at Hotstart Inc., an engine heating company in Spokane Valley.