Community Corner
UPDATE: Divers to Search for Salt Creek Beach Swimmer Presumed Drowned
On Wednesday, divers plan to continue their recovery efforts for 34-year-old Frank Daniel Austin, 24, who went missing Sunday in Dana Point.
Orange County Lifeguard divers will head out between 7 and 10 a.m., Wednesday in an effort to recover the body of missing swimmer Frank Daniel Austin.
Austin, 34, went missing on Sunday around 4 p.m. after he went swimming with a camera at Salt Creek Beach, authorities reported.
"To date we have not found anything," Orange County Lifeguards Chief Jason Young said Tuesday afternoon. "We'll go out in the morning around the area of Salt Creek Beach."
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"The search has been officially called off and the man has not been located,” said Orange County Sheriff's Department Capt. Steve Doan. "It now becomes a recovery effort. The likelihood of finding him alive diminishes with every passing minute. It's very sad."
Austin went swimming around 4 p.m. Sunday, and was reported missing by his mother around 7:20 p.m.
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On Sunday evening, Young said an interview was conducted, and officials determined Austin was missing, and an actual search began at 7:35 p.m., he said.
"His mother said he is a good swimmer, and he was headed out to take photos with an underwater camera," Young said Monday. Young added that the man was swimming in an area where lifeguards were posted, but there was a high surf advisory, and rough seas may have caused him to lose control while under water.
The search was carried out by land, air and sea until 11 p.m. Sunday. However officials came up with nothing, Young said.
"It was too dark to continue last night, so we called it off until early this morning," Young said.
The search resumed around 6:30 a.m. Monday and continued with about 20 OC Lifeguards, O.C. Sheriff's deputies, Coast Guard officials, and other agencies assisting, Young said.
"The high surf we have been experiencing at Salt Creek is largely a result of a Southern Hemisphere ground swell that was generated by a South Pacific storm, Young said. "Although (Hurricane) Ileana did send some swell to SoCal, which contributed to high surf, her swell was small in comparison to the S Hemi swell.
