NEWPORT BEACH : Body of Man Swept by Tides Recovered
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Sheriff’s Department divers Thursday found the body of a man who was swept away as he and his friends were trying to wade across the Santa Ana River.
Jose Sanchez, 25, of Garden Grove was discovered in the water beneath the Coast Highway bridge at 3:37 p.m., Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said.
Sanchez and three other men were trying to cross the river just north of Coast Highway when he disappeared Wednesday. Sanchez apparently was swept to his death by incoming tidal currents, but no one heard him cry out for help, officials said.
His friends made it to the other side and flagged down a police officer when Sanchez did not turn up.
The Sheriff’s Department Underwater Search and Rescue Team, assisted by Newport Beach lifeguards, searched for three hours Wednesday and started again at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday. They had to stop at 11:30 a.m. for the high tide to recede, then resumed searching several hours later.
An autopsy on the cause of death is scheduled for this morning, Olson said.
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