The body of a girl swept into the Pacific amid high surf was found Sunday off the Central California coast, not far from where her father, who also died, tried to save her.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said a diver discovered her body shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday 100 yards offshore about a half-mile north of her last known location in the water.
The office confirmed the body is that of the girl, and it said after having spoken with family members that she is 7, not 5, as it initially reported. Her name has not been released.
Shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, a wave pulled the girl from the shoreline into the water near Garrapata State Beach, about 12 miles south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, the sheriff’s office said. The surf at the time was estimated at 15 to 20 feet.
Her father, identified as Yuji Hu, 39, of Calgary, went into the water after her, but both were swept farther out to sea, authorities have said.
An off-duty California State Parks lifeguard pulled Hu from the water and administered CPR before Hu was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
The girl’s mother, who was not identified, also went into the water to help, authorities said. She made it back to land with the lifeguard’s help, state and local agencies said.
She was released from a hospital after treatment for mild hypothermia, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
A 2-year-old who was with the family was not injured, it said.
“The family has expressed their gratitude to all agencies, personnel, and community members involved in the search and recovery efforts,” the office said.
In a separate storm-related incident, a 71-year-old man in Sutter County died when his car was swept away by overflowing stormwater along Pleasant Grove Creek on Friday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The agency said in a statement that signs warning the road is flooded were posted at the location before the incident.
The roiling sea and big waves along the Central Coast in Monterey County were associated with the weekend’s winter-pattern storm that dove down California’s coast.
The National Weather Service warned beachgoers along the Central Coast that double- and triple-overhead surf was looming and that “sneaker waves” known to strike dry sand with little notice were possible Friday.
The storm, which moved east Sunday, flooded some Southern California streets, triggered sliding vehicle collisions, and produced more than 12 inches of rain at San Marcos Pass in Santa Barbara County, according to the National Weather Service.
Santa Barbara County took in nearly half its average annual rainfall of 17 inches with the weekend storm, according to National Weather Service data.
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