In March, 70-year-old Frank Meza finished the LA marathon in 2:53:10, setting a record for his age group. Yet last week he was disqualified from the race, after officials deemed one particular stretch of his run, “an impossible feat during a marathon.” In a tragic update to this news story, according to local news sources Meza was found dead on Thursday.

Meza was reportedly found in shallow water in the Los Angeles river. LA police do not believe Meza drowned, but the exact cause of death is not yet clear.

After Meza set the record in March, his incredible time instantly raised suspicion amongst some members of the running community. Runners at Marathon Investigation and LetsRun.com forum picked apart Meza’s results, and raised questions about the legitimacy of his running times.

This is not the first time Meza’s running had been questioned. In 2014, he crossed the line of the California International Marathon in 2:52:33, only for officials to then notice he had missed several timing mats along the course. Meza was subsequently banned from the event. In 2015, his finish time of 2:52:47 at the LA Marathon drew suspicion and organisers said he would have to run with an official observer the following year, but Meza never took part in the race.

There was a photo of Meza circulating, in which he can be seen running back onto the course. When questioned about the photo, Meza claimed he had stopped for a wee and was running back into the race.

Meza continued to proclaim his innocence, saying that he did not cut any part of the course, but has stopped to wee during races before. He had also told Los Angeles Times that he planned to return to run the LA marathon with an official observer to show the world he could break three hours.

Meza's wife told news publications he had been devastated about the cheating allegations, saying "running was very important to my husband. He had been running marathons for the last 30 or 40 years. He was very fast... and now unfortunately he won't run marathons anymore". He had left the house for a run on Thursday saying "I'll see you later".

Derek Murphy, who runs the site Marathon Investigation, said, "I am deeply saddened to learn of Frank Meza’s death. My heart goes out to his family and friends, and I wish for everyone to be respectful and to keep his loved ones in mind."