Family swept out to sea in Calif. trying to save dog in high surf
From left to right: Mary Elena Scott, Gregory James Kuljian, Olivia Kuljian and Howard Gregory Kuljian. Mary and Howard drowned, while Gregory has not been found and is presumed dead. / CBS News/Personal Photo
SAN FRANCISCO The search for a 16-year-old boy who plunged into icy waters off the California coast to save the family dog has ended, adding another tragic note to the events that also claimed his parents' lives.
Eureka residents Mary Elena Scott, 57, and Howard Gregory Kuljian, 54, both drowned Saturday, said Ariel Gruenthal, a deputy coroner in Humboldt County.
The boy, Gregory James Kuljian, has not been found and is presumed dead.
Powerful, 10-foot waves had pulled the dog into the ocean Saturday as it ran to retrieve a stick at Big Lagoon, about 300 miles north of San Francisco, authorities said. Waves were about eight to 10 feet high at that time.
The 16-year-old boy went after the dog, prompting his father to attempt a rescue, said Dana Jones, a state parks district superintendent. The teenager was able to get out of the waves but then went back into the water with his mother in search of his father.
A Coast Guard boat in San Francisco Bay amid efforts to find a teenage boy who was swept out to sea at Big Lagoon Beach, north of Eureka, Calif., Nov. 25, 2012.
/ CBS San Francisco"Both were dragged into the ocean," Jones said, adding the dog got out of the water on its own.
The couple's daughter and the boy's girlfriend watched the tragedy unfold.
A nearby bystander called police, but by the time help arrived, it was too late.
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 rugged terrain. When he arrived, he wasn't able to get to the family members because of the high surf, she said.
Rescuers eventually retrieved Scott's body, and Howard Kuljian's body washed ashore. The dog got out of the water on his own.
Coast Guard Lt. Bernie Garrigan said the search for the teenager was stopped because a person without a wetsuit could not survive for long in the surf because of the frigid waters.
Saturday was overcast and a bit damp, and the winds were light at Big Lagoon beach, a steep shoreline where the waves roll in and crash onto the sand, making the area dangerous, officials said.
Signs are posted near the beach parking lot warning beachgoers not to turn their back to the surf and to pay special attention to "sneaker waves," or swells that can seemingly appear from nowhere and violently smash onto the beach, Garrigan said.
"Because the beach is designed that way, when that 10-foot wall breaks, it surges up on the beach and surges back really fast," he said. "It's like a cyclical washing machine."
The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter and two motor life boats to search for the teenager, but thick coastal fog made the search difficult. The parks department has also called off its search.
Popular on CBSNews.com
-
Photos: Underground shots of NYC's Second Ave. subway project New York City's Second Ave. subway was first conceived almost a century ago and when it is completed, it will extend all the way down the eastern side of Manhattan with 16 new stations. CBS News' Don Dahler reports on one of the most challenging public works projects in the country.
- Reporter Michael Hastings dies at 33
- Girl who lost feet in lawnmower gets prosthetics
- Tornado briefly touches down on Denver airport runways
- FAA approval sought for 650-foot-tall Vegas thrill ride
- Google asks FISA court to lift gag order on NSA requests
- Report: U.S. teacher training an "industry of mediocrity"
- Scientists say shipwreck timber in Lake Michigan centuries old
- Report: Pregnant workers face routine discrimination
This young woman lost her ENTIRE family in a matter of minutes. She is only 18 years old. The BEST part of her young life was just beginning and now who knows what hardships await her or how long it will take for her to even remotely recover from this.
Other than the obvious loss of her loved ones, if she had college plans, then that will most likely have to be put on hold. If she was looking forward to beginning her first year on her own, now she will be left to sort out memorials, burials or cremations, wills and financial issues, housing and utility matters, all while she is dealing with what is most likely a suffocating amount of grief and sorrow.
This is something no one should ever have to go through, but if it is the hand that life has dealt her, then the very least that she deserves is our
sympathy, respect and prayers. If you are incapable of offering that then maybe just keep your pitiful remarks to yourself, because it speaks more about your own lack of character than it does this family.
---
Not true, sorry. When they saw the dog fighting a strong undertow, a thinking person would have realized that they would be subject to the same force if they went in.......