The body of a 15-year-old boy who went missing while swimming with friends off the Huntington Beach Pier late last month has been recovered, officials announced Thursday.
The initial incident was reported around 9 p.m. on July 28 after the teen and another swimmer went into the water near lifeguard tower 11, but only one of them returned to shore, Huntington Beach Public Information Officer Jennifer Carey confirmed to KTLA.
Officials said waves that evening were approximately three to five feet high with strong rip currents throughout the day Sunday.
The missing teen has not yet been identified.
Huntington Beach Marine Safety lifeguards were among multiple agencies that responded to the scene to conduct a search for the missing boy. Swimmers and divers searched for an hour and a half Sunday night before being pulled from the water, Carey said.
An Orange County Sheriff’s Department air unit continued to search by air with lifeguards also searching on land throughout the night.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which took the lead in the operation on July 29, dispatched a small boat crew from Station Los Angeles-Long Beach, an Air Station San Diego Jayhawk helicopter crew, and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackfin to search the area alongside partner agencies.
Almost 24 hours after he went missing, officials called off the search for the missing boy.
“The decision to suspend an active search is never easy and is only made after exhaustive efforts to find the missing person,” Capt. Stacey Crecy, commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, said in a statement. “Our hearts ache for his family and friends.”
Authorities with the Huntington Beach Fire Department said that on Aug. 5, the department’s marine safety division located and recovered a body near lifeguard tower 3.
“Yesterday evening, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Coroner Division confirmed that the body is that of the 15-year-old swimmer who went missing on Sunday July 28, 2024,” HBFD said in a post to social media.
Officials also offered their “deepest condolences” to the family and friends of the young swimmer.
“Strong rip currents can be dangerous, even for the strongest swimmers,” the Coast Guard said. A rip current is a fast-moving channel of water extending from near the beach out past the line of breaking waves.
Beachgoers should avoid swimming where rip currents are present and should swim at beaches with lifeguards, the Coast Guard said.