Search for 17-year-old swimmer missing in Davenport area continues
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office and State Parks officials are continuing the search for a 17-year-old swimmer off the coast of Laguna Creek Beach.
Investigators say Cash Ebright was last seen body surfing near rocks in the area when he went missing on September 20.
He was last seen wearing black swim trunks.
Dozens of people came out to look for Cash, including his friend, Marcus Palau who went into the water to search.
“I paddled all the way down the beach and around the rocks... I even dove under a couple times just to see and I just could not find him and I just did everything I could… It’s the least I could do for Cash," said a tearful Palau.
The Sheriff's Office is helping search with drones flying all along the coast.
“There have been instances where people have been located, you know if they got put into a pocket beach or something like that. We’ve looked in all of those areas and haven’t found any signs of anybody," said Byran Kine with California State Parks.
This is the third incident where a person has been swept away at northern Santa Cruz County beaches in the last 9 days. On September 12th, San Jose resident David Guzman went missing off Davenport Beach. And on September 14th, a 30-year-old was killed in the waters off Panther Beach.
State Parks has this message for those visiting area beaches:
“Never turn your back on the ocean. Know the conditions, know your limits, know what the tide is doing, especially on these remote pocket beaches. If you go down on a low tide and the tide comes in, it’s coming up to a high tide, you can get trapped," said Kine.
Kine also advises to never go on wet rocks, which is near where Cash was swept away.
“Cash was a really loving friend. He was always filled with humor and had the biggest smile on his face and just such an awesome person," Palau said of his friend.
State Parks says this recovery effort will last at least until it gets dark Tuesday night.
