Santa Cruz County sheriff confirms body found as suspected shark attack victim Erica Fox
Authorities on California's Central Coast confirmed that a body recovered from the ocean by deputies was a swimmer who went missing after a possible shark attack last week.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced Monday that the body was positively identified as 55-year-old Erica Fox of Monterey County. The woman's body was recovered on Saturday about four miles south of the community of Davenport, about 25 miles from where she went missing.
Fox had been missing since a group swim off Lovers Point in Pacific Grove on the afternoon of Dec. 21. Witnesses reported seeing a splash before she disappeared, and investigators said people in the area reported seeing a shark.
Authorities conducted more than 15 hours of search operations, covering more than 84 square nautical miles, before suspending the search on Dec. 22.
There have been several shark-related incidents in the area over the past several years, including a man who was bit and survived in the same spot.
"Monterey does have its tendencies to get bites in that area," said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach.
Lowe noted that despite recent incidents, shark bites are rare.
"On average we have about three injury-related shark bites in California each year," Lowe told CBS News Bay Area. "Your probability of being bitten, is like the same as winning Powerball."
The scientist said that some adult white sharks are in the area, particularly in the winter months, because they are there to feed on elephant seals.
The "Kelp Crawlers", an open water swimming group co-founded by Fox, said they held a memorial for her on Sunday and planned to be back out in the water next weekend.