A man who was found on fire in San Diego is a former prisoner of North Korea who was freed with the help of former President Jimmy Carter.
Police on Tuesday said the death of Aijalon Gomes appears to be either an accident or suicide.
The case remains under investigation.
An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer was driving westbound on Pacific Highway near Sea World Drive at around 11:30pm on Friday night.
The officer spotted Gomes in an adjacent field on fire and tried to help him while he alerted the local fire department.
A man who was found on fire in San Diego is a former prisoner of North Korea who was freed with the help of former President Jimmy Carter. The man has been identified as Aijalon Mahli Gomes (seen right with Carter on August 27, 2010)
An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer was driving westbound on Pacific Highway near Sea World Drive at around 11:30pm on Friday night when he saw Gomes ablaze in the field above
The 38-year-old Boston man had recently moved to San Diego. Gomes had been teaching English in South Korea when he was imprisoned for illegally crossing into North Korea from China in 2010. Gomes and Carter are seen left in Pyongyang on August 27, 2010. They are seen right that same day after landing at Logan International Airport in Boston
Gomes’ injuries, however, proved too severe. He died at the scene.
The 38-year-old Boston man had recently moved to San Diego.
Gomes had been teaching English in South Korea when he was imprisoned for illegally crossing into North Korea from China in 2010.
He was arrested in January of that year and sentenced to eight years of hard labor for illegally entering the country.
North Korea from China.
He spent months in prison until Carter arranged his release.
Gomes’ family described his eight months in captivity as ‘a long, dark and difficult period,’ and thanked Carter for his trip.
Pyongyang authorities invited Carter to visit Gomes a month after what North Korean state media described as a suicide attempt.
Gomes wrote a book about his experiences titled Violence and Humanity
Carter’s trip was a personal and humanitarian voyage, and he did not go as an official representative of the US government.
Gomes wrote a book about his experiences titled Violence and Humanity.
In 2009, another former American president, Bill Clinton, made a similar trip to North Korea to secure the release of two jailed US journalists, who also were charged with illegally entering the country.
Gomes’ mother, Jacqueline McCarthy, told KNSD-TV that she plans to set up an online fundraising page to help cover funeral costs.
‘My son was a very good human being,’ she said.
‘He loved people. He loved his family.’
The investigation into his death in San Diego is ongoing. Anyone with information on this case can reach out to the SDPD’s Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.