The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a man who was swept out to sea alongside a young girl following warnings of possible sneaker waves off the California coast.
Crews spent 22 hours searching for the 54-year-old victim, who “reportedly was swept into the ocean by a wave on Martins Beach” near Half Moon Bay on Saturday afternoon, according to a press release issued by the Coast Guard.
The same wave is also believed to have “swept out a 5-year-old girl,” who was later recovered by San Mateo County Fire personnel, per the release. The child was then transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The victims’ identities have not been released.
The Coast Guard’s search for the missing man began around 2 p.m. local time on Saturday and spanned 100 square miles. Crews searched both by air and by sea without a single sighting of the person.
The search for the victim was called off just after 12 p.m. on Sunday. “The decision to suspend search efforts is one of the hardest decisions to make,” said Captain Jordan Baldueza, deputy commander for the Coast Guard San Francisco sector.
He added, “Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this very tragic event.”
The National Weather Service warned beachgoers between Point Reyes and Big Sur about the risk of “sneaker waves” over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to the outlet, they were urged “to stay out of the ocean and warned that people could be yanked into the water from jetties, rocks and beaches.”
These potentially deadly waves can “surge further up the beach than expected” and sweep beachgoers out to sea, according to the NWS’ website. Sneaker waves go at least 150 feet up a given beach.
“No place on the beach is too high for the wave to reach,” the NWS said.
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