Woman vacationing with son dies after huge wave sweeps her to sea, California cops say
A woman on vacation with her son died after a large wave swept her out to sea, California police said.
At about noon on Monday, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a woman who had been swept out to the North Jetty of Humboldt Bay, according to a news release.
Mary Malouf, 65, of Salt Lake City had been visiting with her adult son and went to watch the waves, police said. They reportedly walked to the North Jetty wall and a massive wave swept over them, knocking them off their feet. While her son held onto the jetty rocks, Malouf was swept out to sea, according to police.
Samoa Peninsula Fire District, Humboldt Bay Fire and the U.S. Coast Guard located Malouf in the water around 1 p.m., police said.
Police said Malouf was pronounced dead at a hospital.
“According to the National Weather Service, breaking waves of 22 to 28 feet will continue to create hazardous conditions for beachgoers and mariners. The public is urged to use extra caution near the surf zone and avoid rocks and jetties,” police wrote.
Video footage shared with Lost Coast Outpost shows three other people almost being swept away by a wave on the same jetty and reportedly was filmed after Malouf had been swept out by a wave.
“These three people had just realized that the woman they had seen at the end of the Jetty was no longer there,” Sequoyah Faulk-Kellogg, who filmed the video, told the publication. “I’m not sure if they actually saw her get swept in or not, but they were in the process of talking to 911 when this video was taken.”
Waves of up to 15 to 20 feet also swept two other people out to sea in the Peninsula on Tuesday, but one was saved by two men on the beach, The Mercury News reported.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the other person was still missing and the U.S. Coast Guard was continuing its search, according to the publication.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 7:23 AM with the headline "Woman vacationing with son dies after huge wave sweeps her to sea, California cops say."