Navy pilot among 4 found dead at Calif. condo

[January 03, 2012]  HONOLULU (AP) -- Navy pilot David Reis had just taken his first flight aboard an F/A-18 fighter jet and his sister, Karen, had become a girls' volleyball coach after graduating from college. Friends say the siblings came from a loving family and shared a love of life.

They were among four people found dead in a New Year's Day shooting at a tony Coronado condominium on San Diego Bay. It was not immediately clear how the siblings, along with two men ages 25 and 31, died but authorities previously said they did not believe there were any outstanding suspects.

Messages left Monday with Navy Region Southwest and the San Diego County sheriff's homicide detail were not returned.

David Reis, 25, was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and held a mechanical engineering degree from the University of New Mexico. Karen Reis, 24, graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 2009 and stayed in the area, coaching volleyball and working at a grocery store.

"It's still a shocker," said Rebecca Bailey, 26, who played college volleyball with Karen Reis and later coached with her at a high school and club program. "This kind of thing doesn't happen to people like her and David. Their family is the family everybody wants to be a part of. They're just so loving, and there's so much love in their family."

Tom Reis, the siblings' father, said he didn't know who else was at the condo in the wealthy seaside community where his son had been living.

"He just had his first F/A-18 flight," he said. "Oh man, he loved it."

Officials found a dead man in the doorway to the three-story condo and the bodies of two men and a woman inside in different parts of the structure.

Neighbor Don Hubbard said he was awakened by the shots that he thought were fired by New Year's revelers. He went back to sleep, but two hours later got a phone call and heard SWAT teams swarming the area.

Hubbard, a retired Navy commander, said he saw the body of one man in the condo doorway and recognized him as his neighbor -- a Navy pilot receiving training at Miramar.

"I knew these guys were pilots because I was one and we'd talk about airplanes," Hubbard said. "Even now, you say, how could this have happened? What the hell is going on here?"

The condo is located a few blocks from the famed Hotel del Coronado and a block from the main street lined with boutiques and restaurants.

Coronado is home to Naval Air Station North Island and is a haven for Navy retirees. Homicides are extremely rare in Coronado -- just one was recorded in 2010.

[Associated Press; By AMY TAXIN]

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