Body of unidentified woman washes up near 28th Street

Mathis Winkler

BALBOA PENINSULA -- Authorities are asking for help in identifying the

body of a woman discovered early Friday near the stone jetty on 28th

Street.

The woman is described as a 20- to 30-year-old Caucasian with brown,

shoulder-length hair, 5-foot-7 and 138 pounds. She was found wearing only

blue jeans, said Newport Beach Police Lt. Fletcher. She had four

piercings in her right ear and three piercings in her left ear.

A beach walker discovered the body Friday at 6:54 a.m., police said.

The Orange County coroner estimated the woman died about two hours

earlier.

The coroner’s post-mortem examination found that drowning was the

cause of death, Fletcher said. He added that it was still unclear how the

woman drowned.

“We don’t know for sure at this point,” Fletcher said. “It could have

been a suicide or accidental drowning. We will proceed at the worst case

scenario until we’ve conducted a full investigation.”

The drowning marks the sixth beach-related death in local waters since

May, when a Santa Ana teen drowned off the Newport Pier. In June, a San

Bernardino man died in a rip current near 55th Street. Also in June, a

17-year-old Highland resident collapsed and died on the shores of The

Wedge. The body of a 70-year-old Costa Mesa man washed up in July at the

southern tip of Crystal Cove. In August, a 20-year-old Fullerton man

waded into the water at The Wedge and drowned.

While this year’s drownings exceeded the average number of deaths on

the beach, said Capt. John Blauer of the Newport Beach lifeguards, all of

them took place at times of day when no lifeguards were on duty at the

beach towers.

Blauer said that during the off-season, which runs from Labor Day to

the first week of summer school vacations, lifeguards typically patrol

the beaches twice a day.

“They would at that point be looking for dangerous areas and large

concentrations of people,” he said.

Lifeguards also monitor beach activity and surf from their

headquarters, Blauer said.

He added that the installation of video cameras at lifeguard

headquarters by a surfing Web site and the lifeguard’s ability to view

the beach through other Internet companies’ cameras would allow them to

determine more quickly if additional staff might be needed on a

particular day.

As far as preventing drownings, the cameras probably won’t make a big

difference, Blauer said.

“It only takes moments to slip under water,” he said.

FYI

Anyone who has information about Friday’s drowning or the identity of

the woman, call (800) 550-NBPD (6273)