Man missing after 3 swept into ocean on Big Sur coastline days after child was lost on same beach
A search will resume Sunday for a 30-year-old man who was pulled out to sea by a powerful wave on the Big Sur coastline -- days after a child was lost on the same beach.
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office was alerted about 3 p.m. Saturday that the man was swept away near Soberanes Point on Garapata State Beach, about half a mile from where a 7-year-old girl was carried away Nov. 14.
About 4:30 p.m., a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew spotted the man's body floating about 300 feet offshore but lost track of it in the ocean and was unable to recover it, said Cmdr. Andres Rosas, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.
RELATED: Body of 7-year-old found after father and daughter pulled into ocean in Big Sur
Rosas said the man was among a group of four people who were visiting the park, about 11 miles south of Carmel along state Highway 1.
Two women and one man were swept off the rocks into the ocean, California State Parks said in a press release.
"The two women were able to self-rescue and were taken by ambulance to a hospital with unknown injuries," according to the parks agency.
The victim was described as a South Asian man last seen wearing a white turban, black shorts, black shirt and black vest. His name wasn't released.
The effort to find the victim involved the Sheriff's Search and Rescue unit, Cal Fire, State Parks, the California Highway Patrol, a Coast Guard ship and helicopter, and drones, Rosas said. The search was called off due to darkness about 7 p.m.
"We're resuming at daybreak," Rosas said, though the search is now considered a recovery effort, rather than a rescue.
Deaths on area beaches from sneaker waves, which can unexpectedly surge high up on the shore and sweep people off their feet, are not uncommon, Rosas said.
"The water can look safe and then that one sneaker wave or rogue wave can come in and that's the one that catches people off guard," he said.
The National Weather Service said waves were 8 to 10 feet high at 12 to 13 seconds apart Saturday afternoon. A beach hazard statement predicted 13- to 18-foot waves through Monday.
A yellow warning sign at the beach cautions against unexpected life-threatening waves and currents, Rosas said. Climbing on rocks, swimming and wading is unsafe, it says.
Waves were running 15 to 20 feet high a week ago, when the 7-year-old Canadian girl was pulled out to sea. Her body was found Sunday, two days after her 39-year-old father, Yuji Hu, died following an attempt to save her.
"As Hu reached for his daughter, both were pulled farther into the ocean," the Sheriff's Office said last week. "The child's mother attempted to assist but was also swept into the water. She was ultimately able to make it back to shore."
