The body of a California triathlete who disappeared while swimming off the coast of Monterey has been found on a beach near Santa Cruz, almost a week after she went missing amid fears she had been killed by a shark.
Erica Fox, 55, was part of a group of more than a dozen swimmers who set off from Lovers Point near Monterey on 21 December, but never returned to shore. A witness reported seeing a shark with what appeared to be a human body in its mouth emerging from the water, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Firefighters recovered Fox's remains on Davenport beach on Saturday afternoon. The Santa Cruz County sheriff's office said it was working with Monterey County authorities given the close proximity to the recent shark attack victim. The US Coast Guard had earlier suspended a search covering 84 nautical miles after 15 hours.
Fox's husband, Jean-François Vanreusel, joined members of her swim club for a memorial walk along the Lovers Point coastline on Sunday. Her father told NBC Bay Area she was an empathetic and kind person who loved to swim and had taken part in numerous triathlons, including the annual Escape From Alcatraz challenge.
Sara Rubin, editor of Monterey County Weekly and a fellow swimmer, paid tribute to Fox, describing her as a passionate athlete who found peace in the Pacific Ocean. Rubin wrote that Fox "understood the risk" of swimming in waters inhabited by great white sharks and would have preferred to call it an incident rather than an attack.
Fatal shark encounters are extremely rare in California, with only 16 recorded in the past 75 years before Fox's death.
