Female triathlete's corpse is found six days after she was killed in shark attack while swimming with her husband off California coast
Rescue teams recovered a corpse from the ocean south of Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz on Saturday, around 2 pm, according to the county sheriff's office.
The body of a triathlete who vanished from the waters off a California coast following a shark attack has been found, her father has confirmed.
Rescue teams recovered a corpse from the ocean south of Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz on Saturday at around 2pm, according to the county sheriff's office.
The fatal victim has been identified as Erica Fox, 55, by her grieving father, James Fox, NBC Bay Area reported.
The grim discovery came about a week after Fox, who was swimming in the waters of the nearby Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, was reported missing after witnesses said a shark mauled her.
Davenport Beach and Lovers Point are both along the coastline of the Monterey Bay. The distance between the two sites is about 30 miles.
While James confirmed that the body belongs to his daughter, Sergeant Ryan Farotte of the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office told the Daily Mail on Sunday night that authorities 'do not yet have confirmation on an ID' of the body.
However, due to its proximity to Fox's disappearance, the Santa Cruz and Monterey County sheriff's offices, along with the Pacific Grove Police, are investigating the matter.
Fox went missing on December 21 at around 11:30am while swimming alongside fellow members of the recreational swim club Kelp Krawlers, which she co-founded 20 years ago.
Fox has competed in two half-Ironman competitions and participated in an annual triathlon called Escape from Alcatraz for almost 20 years
Cal Fire used a rope system to retrieve Fox's body on Saturday
Search teams scoured the water near where Fox went missing hoping to recover her body
The group regularly meets at Lovers Point. Trouble apparently arose when the group of 15 people swam west around the point and entered Otter Cove.
One Kelp Krawler who returned to shore early noticed a shark about 100 yards from the point, according to The Mercury News.
Simultaneously, a driver stopped at a nearby stop sign alerted the US Coast Guard that he had seen a shark breach the surface with what appeared to be a human body in its mouth.
He then claimed he saw the shark submerge below the waterline.
These horrifying reports prompted swimmers to hurry back to their starting point, but when they took a headcount, they realized that Fox was nowhere to be found.
Her horrified husband of 30 years, Jean-Francois Vanreusel, was among the group.