Search ends for teen after family swept into sea looking for dog

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Crews called off a search for the last of three family members swept out to sea in powerful surf while looking for their dog.

Despite heavy fog, the Coast Guard had searched through the weekend for a 16-year-old boy swept out to sea along with his parents, according to the Associated Press.

Waves reaching 10 feet in height pulled the dog into the ocean as it ran to retrieve a stick at Big Lagoon, a beach north of Eureka on Saturday, according to Dana Jones, a state Parks and Recreation district superintendent, in the Times-Standard.

Jones said the boy went after the dog, prompting his father to go after them. She said the teenager was able to get out, but when he didn’t see his father, he and his mother went into the water looking for him.

“Both were dragged into the ocean,” Jones said of Saturday’s tragedy.

The Times-Standard reports that the couple’s daughter called police. Jones said a park ranger had to run a half mile to get to the beach because his car wasn’t made to handle the terrain. When he arrived, he wasn’t able to get to them because of the high surf, she said. Rescuers eventually retrieved the mother’s body, and the father’s body washed up. The dog got out of the water on its own, Jones said.

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-- From a Times staff writer