SANTA CRUZ, California — Two University of California Santa Cruz students are missing after being swept out to sea by Monday.
At 5:03 PM, Santa Cruz Fire Department was requested to assist Cal Fire with a water rescue at Bonny Doon Beach. Callers reported that several people were stuck on rocks with two people in the water. Upon the arrival of the Cal Fire crew from Swanton they found two people on the rocks approximately 70 feet down a cliff on the south side of Bonny Doon Beach.
The Cal Fire crew made contact and determined that two additional people had been swept into the ocean and were not seen. All involved agencies set up a unified command and worked together to accomplish the rescue. Santa Cruz Fire provided mutual aid with seven personnel, four being rescue swimmers, and set up a rope system to retrieve the victims off the rocks. They were brought to the top of the cliff and refused medical treatment by AMR. Crews continued searching for the two missing victims.
Friends of the two missing people confirmed that they were in the water and could not get them out. Crews lined the cliffs and set up lights in an attempt to locate the missing victims. The surf was estimated to be 15+ with a high tide occurring at the time of rescue operations. Conditions along the cliff and in the ocean were so severe that no PWC’s or Rescue Swimmers could enter the water. Coast Guard was requested and arrived with a helicopter and boat 1.5 hours into the rescue.
The Coast Guard helicopter arrived and believed they saw two subjects in a cave. After reporting that they had spotted two subjects the Coast Guard helicopter had to leave the scene to refuel. Two Santa Cruz Rescue Swimmers rappelled to a rock outcropping near the cave. The Rescue swimmers were unable to locate any victims in the cave. Crews continued to search without locating any victims. When the Coast Guard helicopter returned they were unable to locate any victims as well.
The search continued with Coast Guard, Cal Fire, State Parks and Santa Cruz Sheriffs. All agencies ask that you use extreme caution around the ocean during periods of large surf. With large surf forecasted for the next few weeks these unfortunate types of events are more likely to occur. People can put themselves at risk as well as the lives of rescuers by not keeping a safe distance from the ocean and cliffs.
