Investigators in California say the bodies of a Calgary man and his seven-year-old daughter have been found after they were swept off the shoreline by a tall ocean wave on Garrapata State Beach.
According to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 1:20 p.m. on Sunday, a diver located a body roughly 100 yards offshore and about half a mile north of the child’s last known location. Investigators later confirmed it was the body of the young girl.
She and her father, 39-year-old Yuji Hu, were with his wife and their two other children last Friday when an approximately six-metre-tall wave dragged their daughter into the Pacific Ocean.
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The office says when Hu and his wife reached for their daughter, they, too, were swept into the water. His wife was able to return to the shore.
A beach visitor and an off-duty California park officer then pulled Hu out of the ocean and tried to resuscitate him while his wife made it back to the beach on her own.
The couple was taken to the hospital, where Hu died and his wife was treated for mild hypothermia.
Their two-year-old child was unharmed, police added.
A large-scale search effort, which saw a command post set up from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, California’s fire service, divers and a helicopter searching for the girl, was suspended on Sunday.
A California government website describes Garrapata State Beach as a state park featuring a 50-foot climb with coastal hiking and views of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Authorities requested that the public respect the family’s privacy.
“The family has expressed their gratitude to all agencies, personnel, and community members involved in the search and recovery efforts. They continue to request privacy and do not wish to make further statements at this time,” the statement said.
(Contrary to previous reporting that stated the daughter was five years old, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office confirmed after speaking with family members that she was seven.)
— With files from Global News’ Rachel Goodman
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