Searchers Find Body of Girl Swept Away by Huge Wave

UPDATE Jun 11, 2026 6:05 PM CDT

California search crews have found the body of a girl who was swept into the ocean with her family in Laguna Beach on Tuesday. The city said her body was spotted from the air on Thursday afternoon about a quarter-mile away from where she disappeared, the Los Angeles Times reports. "This is one of the most heartbreaking incidents I have witnessed during my time serving this community," Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill said in a statement.

Jun 10, 2026 4:48 PM CDT

Authorities have stepped up the search for a teenage girl swept away by a wave at a Southern California beach on Tuesday. Authorities say the girl was walking with her mother and brother by the shoreline at Laguna Beach, around 50 miles south of Los Angeles, when strong waves dragged them into the water, reports the AP. Bystanders rushed in and brought the mother and one child back to shore; both were hospitalized in stable condition, as were two rescuers who helped, KTLA reports.

The missing child, described by authorities as an "adolescent female," is the focus of a multi-agency search involving Laguna Beach Marine Safety, the Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol, and the US Coast Guard. "We're expanding our search to include adjacent beaches and we're using divers, rescue vessels, and air resources to search the area but at this point we haven't found her," Laguna Beach Marine Safety Chief Kai Bonds said Wednesday, per the AP. Bonds said one of the bystanders who helped the family on Tuesday had to be rescued by a lifeguard from waves around 10 feet high.

The incident comes as Orange County beaches are under a beach hazard advisory. The National Weather Service said Wednesday that 5-to 8-foot waves are expected at many Southern California beaches into Thursday, with waves as high as 10 feet in some places, including Malibu. Newport Beach Fire Department Chief Lifeguard Brian O'Rourke tells KTLA that conditions are dangerous for anyone in or near the water. "You get these lulls. It's called a long-period swell," he says. "So all of a sudden you get these sets that come in that are double, triple, the size of the normal breaking waves."