MARIN COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) – Search and rescue crews spent a second day trying to find a man who fell into the ocean near Muir Beach. Sadly, that search has been suspended.
The search for a man swept into the ocean Monday afternoon has ended.
On Tuesday morning, search teams scoured the coastline just north of Muir Beach, unfortunately, they were unable to find any trace of the missing man and by mid-day, the search was suspended.
This all began around 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon when three men, all cousins, were fishing and hiking on the rocks below the Muir Beach outlook.
According to one of the cousins, they were hit by a large wave.
“He was asking, help me, help me, help me. I took my clothes off and jumped into the water. I grabbed him but he was 12 feet away. So, I had to swim a bit to get to the nearest rock. At that moment, he was already going down. I was trying to pull him but he was pulling me down as well. The waves were insanely big, and they were pulling me down as well. I was swallowing a lot of water and I had a moment or two. I had to save myself so I let him go. Even then I couldn’t get to the nearest rock because the waves were too big. It was a miracle I got to the nearest rock,” Marin Padilla said.
Two of the men were rescued by a CHP helicopter.
The Coast Guard, Marin Sheriff’s Department, and Southern Marin Fire searched overnight.
They returned Tuesday morning to take advantage of the low tides but came up empty-handed.