The body of 21-year-old Mario Danelo, the Trojans' starting placekicker for two seasons, was found at the bottom of a cliff near the Point Fermin lighthouse in San Pedro. He is the son of former NFL kicker Joe Danelo and played for San Pedro High before enrolling at USC. Scott Wolf's Daily News blog calls it an apparent suicide and says that Danelo had been missing for about a day. The Times' website story, however, only quotes police saying "We don't have much information at this time. He was found at the bottom of a cliff. Investigators are there now."
USC sports information director Tim Tessalone, speaking on behalf of USC head football coach Pete Carroll, relesed a statement tonight:
We're stunned to hear about this tragedy. This is a great loss. Mario was a wonderful young man of high character and he was one heck of a kicker. He was a key ingredient in our success these past few years. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Trojan Family go out to the Danelo family on this sad, sad day.
Wolf also gets to Danelo's roommate, wide receiver Chris McFoy.
LAT story
Scott Wolf blog
USC Football.com
Daily News story
Emergency response details at LAFD blog
