The body of a missing triathlete has been recovered one week after a devastating shark attack off the California coast.
Erica Fox, 55, vanished on December 21 while swimming with her husband and 13 other members of the Kelp Krawlers, a local open-water swimming club, near Lovers Point in Pacific Grove.
Her body was discovered around 2PM on Saturday, more than 25 miles away, just south of Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz.
“She didn’t want to live in fear,” her grieving husband, Jean-Francis Vanreusel, told Mercury News during an emotional coastal procession. “She lived her life fully.”
Witnesses saw shark with body in mouth
The search for Fox ended after a week of heartbreak and uncertainty.
Coast Guard officials reported that witnesses saw a shark with a human body in its jaws before it disappeared beneath the surface, according to ABC News.
Fox was found still wearing her black wetsuit and a "shark band" - an ankle-worn electromagnetic device designed to deter sharks.
It didn’t save her from becoming just the second person killed by a shark at Lovers Point in 73 years, as well as the second attack on a Kelp Krawler member in just three and a half years.
Steve Bruemmer, another member, survived a brutal shark bite to the leg in 2022 only thanks to nearby paddleboarders who rushed to help.
A solemn procession brought dozens of swimmers to the shoreline on Sunday (December 28), including longtime Krawler Sharen Carey.
“Will people get back in the ocean? Will they get back in the ocean, but not here?” Carey said. “I don’t think anyone knows at the moment, because I think we’re all just still in shock, disbelief, and grief, not knowing what we need to do next, except to love and support each other.”
Shark activity spikes near Monterey Bay
Fox’s body was positively identified by both her husband and father, with local authorities confirming it was indeed her who was recovered from the water.
“Due to the close proximity to the recent shark attack victim in Monterey County, our agency is working closely with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Pacific Grove Police Department regarding the recovery,” officials stated, per The Independent.
In a 2022 interview with the publication, Fox acknowledged the risks of ocean swimming but remained undeterred.
“As soon as you dive in the water, you’re immediately in a foreign land. We are the ocean ecology’s humbled guests,” she said. She added that she actually felt “more vulnerable riding my bike than being in the water.”
Marine biologist Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that white sharks often frequent the area from October to January, drawn by the seals and sea lions.
Despite this, shark bites have remained rare since 1950. California has recorded just 16 fatal shark attacks, almost all involving white sharks, per the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Following the incident, two beaches in Monterey were temporarily closed as a precaution, and rescue teams launched an 84-square-nautical-mile search for Fox.
That operation was called off after 15 hours.