A tragic incident at Garrapata Beach in Monterey County resulted in the deaths of a 7-year-old girl and her father after they were swept into the ocean during a family outing. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of the child, whose body was recovered on Sunday. The family was enjoying a day at the beach when the young girl was pulled into the ocean. Both parents attempted to rescue her, but the father, who was pulled from the ocean by an off-duty lifeguard, did not survive. The mother has been released from the hospital after suffering injuries.Chief Deputy Eric Bixler expressed the emotional toll the recovery effort had on all responding agencies. “This is one of these stories that really touches your heart strings, nobody wanted to quit and go, I’ve been in law enforcement a long time and this is one of the stories that touched me and was hard to deal with,” Bixler said.The search for the child involved multiple agencies and concluded on Sunday afternoon when a Stockton man, who runs a nonprofit called “Angels Recovery Dive Team,” found the child’s body floating 100 yards off the shore. “A private diver swam out as he saw the body floating by behind a rock, and he was able to bring the body in, at which time state parks happened to be in the area above the cliffs, saw what was going on, and they came over and took command of that and notified the sheriff’s office,” Bixler said.Bixler maintained close contact with the family throughout the search and met with them after the child’s body was found. “Myself and Commander Rosas were in touch with the family the entire time. In fact, we met with them after we were able to locate their child on Saturday night, had a deep conversation with them, they’re a very private family, and they don’t want any media involvement, they don’t want any attention at all,” Bixler said. He added, “That was pretty tough talking with them because they were very distraught, as you can imagine, we spoke with the mother who lost a husband and a child.”The sheriff’s office is planning a debrief to discuss mental health support for everyone involved in the response. “Everyone that is involved is impacted by this. Many of us have small children, and when you’re working on a situation that involves a small child, it will impact you, so it’s very important that we take our professionals’ mental health into consideration,” Commander Andy Rosas said.California State Parks released a statement commending their lifeguards and ranger staff for assisting allied agencies in the search and recovery over the weekend. The National Weather Service tracks “surf zone deaths,” reporting three such deaths at Garrapata Beach since 2010, including the two from Friday. Since 2010, four deaths were reported at Monastery Beach, about seven miles away, and another four at Bonny Doon Beach in Santa Cruz County. More than 100 surf zone deaths have been reported across the California coast since 2010, with 35 occurring on the Central Coast.
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. —
A tragic incident at Garrapata Beach in Monterey County resulted in the deaths of a 7-year-old girl and her father after they were swept into the ocean during a family outing.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of the child, whose body was recovered on Sunday.
The family was enjoying a day at the beach when the young girl was pulled into the ocean.
Both parents attempted to rescue her, but the father, who was pulled from the ocean by an off-duty lifeguard, did not survive.
The mother has been released from the hospital after suffering injuries.
Chief Deputy Eric Bixler expressed the emotional toll the recovery effort had on all responding agencies.
“This is one of these stories that really touches your heart strings, nobody wanted to quit and go, I’ve been in law enforcement a long time and this is one of the stories that touched me and was hard to deal with,” Bixler said.
The search for the child involved multiple agencies and concluded on Sunday afternoon when a Stockton man, who runs a nonprofit called “Angels Recovery Dive Team,” found the child’s body floating 100 yards off the shore.
“A private diver swam out as he saw the body floating by behind a rock, and he was able to bring the body in, at which time state parks happened to be in the area above the cliffs, saw what was going on, and they came over and took command of that and notified the sheriff’s office,” Bixler said.
Bixler maintained close contact with the family throughout the search and met with them after the child’s body was found.
“Myself and Commander Rosas were in touch with the family the entire time. In fact, we met with them after we were able to locate their child on Saturday night, had a deep conversation with them, they’re a very private family, and they don’t want any media involvement, they don’t want any attention at all,” Bixler said.
He added, “That was pretty tough talking with them because they were very distraught, as you can imagine, we spoke with the mother who lost a husband and a child.”
The sheriff’s office is planning a debrief to discuss mental health support for everyone involved in the response.
“Everyone that is involved is impacted by this. Many of us have small children, and when you’re working on a situation that involves a small child, it will impact you, so it’s very important that we take our professionals’ mental health into consideration,” Commander Andy Rosas said.
California State Parks released a statement commending their lifeguards and ranger staff for assisting allied agencies in the search and recovery over the weekend.
The National Weather Service tracks “surf zone deaths,” reporting three such deaths at Garrapata Beach since 2010, including the two from Friday.
Since 2010, four deaths were reported at Monastery Beach, about seven miles away, and another four at Bonny Doon Beach in Santa Cruz County.
More than 100 surf zone deaths have been reported across the California coast since 2010, with 35 occurring on the Central Coast.