The body of a 7-year-old girl from Canada, who was swept away by a sudden flash flood in California, was discovered on Sunday, two days after her father tragically lost his life trying to rescue her.
Divers located the girl’s body just after 1 p.m. near Garrapata State Beach in Carmel, around 100 yards from shore and half a mile from where she was last seen, as reported by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
The girl’s identity hasn’t been revealed yet, but early reports mistakenly listed her as being 5 years old. The sheriff’s office later clarified her age after obtaining accurate information from her family.
Volunteer Juan Heredia, a diving instructor and leader of the Angels Recovery Dive Team, was responsible for recovering the girl. He has expressed gratitude in his posts about the situation, saying, “I found my child. I’m going home today. Thank you, God.”
On Friday, around 1 p.m., the child was pulled into the water, leading her father, Yuji Fu, 39, originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to leap in along with his wife to save her.
Although Mr. Fu managed to hold onto his daughter for a time, she ultimately disappeared from view when he was taken from the water.
An off-duty lifeguard and another beachgoer later rescued Mr. Fu, who was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, the girl’s mother returned to shore safely and was treated for hypothermia, as was the couple’s 2-year-old child, who was waiting on the beach.
The family expressed their gratitude to all those involved in the search and recovery efforts.
The search for the girl transitioned to a recovery operation on Sunday due to the circumstances.
Last week, California faced significant rainfall from atmospheric rivers, resulting in flash floods and landslides. On Saturday, the coast experienced up to an inch of rain per hour, with Santa Barbara County reporting four inches on Friday and 12 inches on Sunday, as noted by the National Weather Service.
In total, the weekend storm brought nearly half of Santa Barbara County’s average annual rainfall of 17 inches.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a wooden boat thought to be carrying Mexican immigrants capsized near San Diego on Saturday, leading to four fatalities.
