A friend of Navy SEAL Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Matthew John Leathers, who was lost at sea during swim training off Kaena Point last week, said he was a "super-nice guy" who would give others the shirt off his back.

"He was a very good dude, and he would do anything for anybody," said Brody Dorton, a Navy diver who practiced ultrarunning with the 33-year-old Leathers.

"He was friends with everybody," Dorton said. "He didn’t just hang out within the SEAL community. He hung out with everyone."

Naval Special Warfare on Tuesday identified Leathers, of Woodland, Calif., as the Hawaii-based SEAL commando who was lost off Kaena Point on Feb. 19.

"Our condolences go out to the family, friends and teammates of SO1 Leathers during this difficult time," the command said in a release.

Leathers became separated from other members of his command during afternoon ocean swim training involving 10 sailors and two rigid-hull inflatable boats, officials said.

Naval Special Warfare said the incident is under investigation and declined to answer questions.

Leathers ran 100-mile trail runs and trained with Dorton once to twice a week on Oahu. Dorton said he went to Kaena Point three to four times while his friend was missing.

"It’s sad. You could run through a million scenarios through your head with what happened, but in all honesty we don’t know what happened," Dorton said.

The Coast Guard said it suspended its search Sunday after "exhaustive efforts" to locate Leathers. More than 24,000 square miles were searched using aircraft, cutters, small boats and shore personnel.

Leathers had been with SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 at Pearl Harbor since August 2004, according to Naval Special Warfare Command.

In 2005, Leathers spoke at a memorial in Hono­lulu about his friend and fellow SEAL Matthew G. Axelson, 29, who was one of five Pearl Harbor SEALs killed in Af­ghani­stan that year.

"We loved him and we still do and we always will," Leathers said at the memorial.