Doctor, 70, killed himself after being exposed as marathon cheat who took huge shortcut
Dr Frank Meza died by suicide less than a week after he was disqualified from the LA Marathon after ..
A 70 year-old retired physician killed himself after being exposed as a cheat who broke a marathon record by taking a huge shortcut.
Dr Frank Meza was confirmed to have died by suicide by the Los Angeles Police Departments coroner on Monday.
The fathers body was found lying in shallow water in the citys Cypress Park area on July 4, six days after being disqualified from this years LA Marathon.
Meza completed the March 24 run with an official time of 2:53:10, which would have been a minute faster than the world record for his 70-74 age group.
The next person behind him in that group finished with a time of 4:10:07.
The doctors astonishing performance prompted marathon investigator Derek Murphy to probe the run.
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He claims to have found video showing Meza leave the course and take a big shortcut which dramatically shortened the time it took him to finish.
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Before his death, Meza denied cheating allegations and insisted he had only left the course for a quick bathroom break.
His daughter Lorena Meza told CNN her dad was distraught by the allegations made against him.
She said: He was targeted, bullied and we tried to defend him the best we could.
He was so devastated that people could actually believe this.
Before Mezas suicide was confirmed Monday, his widow Dr Tina Nevarez said she didnt believe he could have taken his own life.
