Body Of Missing Diver Found Off Alki Point Area

The body of a missing scuba diver, Gregory Allen Olstad, 25, a biotechnician for the Seattle Aquarium, was found yesterday in Puget Sound about 200 feet off the Alki Point area in West Seattle.

Olstad was among a group of eight divers who went out at 7 p.m. Thursday on a recreational dive.

Olstad was believed to have run out of air and was using the buddy system to breathe when he became separated from his diving partner, according to the medical examiner's office.

Cindi Shiota, Aquarium director, said however that ``there is no evidence to show he ran out of air'' and that there should have been enough air in his tanks to complete the dive.

But he apparently was sharing air with another acquarium staffer when the accident occurred, she said.

``Greg pulled away,`` Shiota said. ``We don't know why.``

Searchers found the body just before noon in about 50 feet of water off the 1600 block of Harbor Avenue Southwest.

The medical examiner's office was to conduct an autopsy today.

Olstad was an experienced diver and ``a well-respected, well-loved member of the Aquarium,`` Shiota said.

Olstad started as a volunteer for the Aquarium in 1984, then worked some time as a temporary employee before being hired permanently this year, Shiota said.

As a biotechnician, Olstad worked nights taking care of the

animals.