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Monterey County Sheriff’s Office identifies body found at Fanshell Beach as missing diver

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (KION-TV)- UPDATE ON FEB. 4, 2023 AT 12:07 PM: The Monterey County Sheriff's Office has identified the body found at Fanshell Beach on Friday as 27-year-old Zachary Nelson.

A resident of Newark, Calif, Nelson had been missing since last Saturday afternoon while diving in Pebble Beach.. Deputies said that his body was found on the northern tip of Fanshell Beach at 8:10 a.m. on Friday morning.

The Sheriff's Office has notified his family.

Deputies: Body found at Pebble Beach where diver went missing

UPDATE ON FEB. 3, 2023 AT 9:54 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff's Office said they have found a body inside the Pebble Beach grounds where a diver went missing over the weekend.

The Sherriff's Office says they have not identified the person but received a call of a body in the water and rushed out to the scene.

They will release more information soon.

Coast Guard identifies missing diver off of Fanshell Beach

UPDATE ON JAN. 30, 2023 AT 3:08 PM: The U.S. Coast Guard has identified the missing diver off of Fanshell Beach as 27-year-old Zachary Nelson.

Nelson has been missing since Saturday afternoon when he and three other divers were caught up in a rip tide around 3:50 p.m. The Coast Guard announced on Sunday afternoon that they were suspending the search due to not seeing signs of the missing diver.

U.S. Coast Guard Captain Taylor Lam says a multitude of factors were a part of the decision-making process to suspend the search. These factors include weather conditions on the surface of the water and the survivability of the missing diver.

"The other question we have to ask ourselves is what is the survivability of the missing person based on prevailing weather conditions," Lam said. "And a part of that factor is obviously would be what level of safety or personal protective equipment was a person wearing at the time of the incident."

Lam says that in order for the active search to resume they would have to see if there is any signs of life in the water.

"If we see any signs of life or maybe potential equipment that the person was wearing at the time and maybe we see it in the immediate area," Lam said. "That's certainly a cue for us to reevaluate our search populations and maybe potentially resume search efforts."

Lam said the Coast Guard is in constant communication with Nelson's family and advises the community to be aware of their surroundings.

"I would advise the community and the local public to consider to be aware of their surroundings," Lam said. "If they see any signs of potential distress or debris to contact their local 911 center."

If you have any more information, the Coast Guard asks the community to call their San Francisco Command Center which is 415-399-3547.

U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for missing diver off of Fanshell Beach

UPDATE ON JAN. 29 AT 3:41 PM: The U.S. Coast Guard announced they have suspended the search for a missing 27 year old male diver who went missing off of Fanshell Beach on Sunday afternoon.

The Coast Guard and Navy responders searched for a total search time of 17 hours but there was no sign of the missing diver.

A Coast Guard public information officer did tell KION that they will not resume the search unless they receive new information.

Original Story- U.S. Coast Guard and local agencies looking for missing diver off of Fanshell Beach

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to KION that they are looking for a missing 27 year old male diver off of Fanshell Beach on Sunday morning.

Officials said the incident took place on Saturday afternoon around 3:50 p.m. The U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco said they received a report from the U.S. Coast Guard Monterey Station crewmembers describing four divers who had been caught up in a rip tide off of Fanshell Beach.

Three of those divers were able to swim to shore but one of them remained missing.

CAL FIRE BEU said they have sent out rescue swimmers and response boat crew to help assist in the search.

The Coast Guard is describing the 27 year old male diver as 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing about 170 pounds and wearing a black wetsuit.

If anybody in the area has any further information or sees any signs of distress, they are asked to call the Coast Guard Sector San Francisco command center at (415) 399-3547

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Derrick Ow

Assignment Editor for KION News Channel 5/46

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