The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its 22-hour search for a swimmer who was thought to be attacked by a shark off the coast of a remote California beach.
The Coast Guard received reports that a 52-year-old man was dragged into the water around 10.40am Sunday off the coast of Wildcat Beach in Point Reyes.
The search is suspended
The victim, who had been attending a wedding, was described as a very good swimmer. The circumstances surrounding his death are unconfirmed.
‘We didn’t find the individual so there’s no way for us to confirm whether or not it was a shark attack,’ U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel said.
However, two other swimmers told first responders that they spotted a large pool of blood in the water and other witnesses said the victim was screaming.
Samantha Edell told The San Francisco Standard that her son said he heard shrieking coming from the water.
‘We came out, and a group was gathered around that area where the water is, and they were looking for someone who could call emergency services because there’s no cell service there,’ she said.
Edell, who had been camping, placed a call using her Zoleo satellite communicator, a device that extends cell phone coverage and makes emergency calls.
She said members of the group told her that their friend had been swimming. ‘They said it was a shark attack and I said “How bad is it?” and he said his friend was attacked and didn’t come back out of the water,’ Edell said.
SOS call
After hitting the SOS button on her device, she followed the group down to the beach, where another man said he was already in contact with emergency services.
‘There was another man on the beach who had an iPhone that had satellite facilities. He was already in contact with emergency services, so I ended my SOS call,’ Edell said.
She learned responders were already on their way and was asked to ‘go up to the top part of the campground and to wave them down.’
A woman in the group told Edell they had just attended a wedding and had gone backpacking after the event.
‘It was a large party,’ Edell said. ‘People came in from all over, as far as Europe.’
