LAGUNA BEACH (CNS) – Laguna Beach Marine Safety personnel and partner agencies have ended their dedicated search and recovery operation for a girl swept into the ocean in Laguna Beach and Thursday will transition to ongoing monitoring of offshore and shoreline areas as part of their routine public safety duties.
The girl was with her mother and a sibling when a powerful wave swept the trio into the ocean from the shoreline near Treasure Island Beach about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Bystanders rescued the woman and one child, but a girl described by city officials as an adolescent remained missing.
“This is one of the most heartbreaking incidents I have witnessed during my time serving this community,” Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill said in a statement.
Crews from the Laguna Beach Marine Safety Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol, and the U.S. Coast Guard spent Wednesday searching coastal and offshore areas using boats, personal watercraft, aircraft, dive teams, and shore-based personnel, but were unable to locate the girl.
“Search operations initially focus heavily on the last known location of a missing person,” according to a statement from the city. “As time passes, particularly during periods of large surf and strong currents, search teams expand outward to areas where conditions may have carried a person beyond the original search zone.”
Waves exceeding 9 feet have been breaking along beaches in Orange and Los Angeles counties, prompting warnings from the National Weather Service and local agencies.
The high surf is not expected to subside until later this week.
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