Missing since July 28, Huntington Beach swimmer’s body discovered Monday
The body of a Huntington Beach teenager who went missing July 28 during a night swim with a friend in the Pacific was discovered Monday by a lifeguard stationed nearly 2 miles away from where he was last seen, near the city’s lifeguard headquarters, officials reported.
Huntington Beach Police Department spokeswoman Jessica Cuchilla said Thursday the body was spotted floating in the waters near Lifeguard Tower 3 — a short distance from the city’s pier — at around 10 a.m. Monday and retrieved.
Officials from the Orange County coroner’s office on Tuesday confirmed it was the body of the missing 15-year-old, who was publicly identified by family members as Aayan Randhawa, an incoming sophomore at Huntington Beach High School.
Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, assisted divers from the fire department’s Marine Safety Division in the search for Randhawa, employing a vessel with sonar scanning capabilities, as well as a helicopter that provided aerial support to rescue watercraft down below, Cuchilla said.
“They were searching from above for any detection of a person in the ocean,” she added. “Our divers, if they spotted something, went in there for whatever was [appearing in scans] to determine if it was what we were searching for.”
The Coast Guard on the night of July 29 officially suspended its search efforts, which included the deployment of a boat from Station Los Angeles-Long Beach, a Jayhawk helicopter and the Coast Guard cutter Blackfin, the Los Angeles Times reported.
However, local first responders continued their search for Randhawa’s body until Monday’s discovery, Huntington Beach Fire Department posted Thursday on Facebook.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the young swimmer during this incredibly difficult time,” the post read.
During a July 30 vigil at the Huntington Beach Pier, near the spot where the teen’s body would later be discovered, friends and family members recalled his love of the ocean.
“He loved to come to the beach all the time. That was his favorite place,” his mother, Sana Randhawa, said at the vigil. “Every time I’d say I want to go for a walk on the beach, he’d say, ‘Mama, why are we going just for a walk? We should go in the water.’”
Officials continued their search Monday for a teenager who disappeared while swimming in Huntington Beach on Sunday night.
The teenager was reportedly at a bonfire with friends shortly before 8:30 p.m. that Sunday, when he texted his mother, she told a Daily Pilot reporter at the vigil. Less than one hour later, police called to inform her the teen had gone missing in the water.
Officials said waves of 3 to 5 feet and strong rip currents were reported in the area the night Randhawa was swept out to sea.
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