UPDATE: Sonoma Deputies Continue Search For Kids Swept Away at Blind Beach, Father Identified
SONOMA (CBS SF) -- Stormy weather Monday kept rescue crews from searching for two children who were swept out to sea near Blind Beach in Jenner the day before, and officials identified their father, who drowned trying to rescue them.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook Monday morning that crews were waiting for a break in the weather to send a helicopter to search for a 4-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl pulled into the ocean Sunday afternoon.
"The crew is standing by at the hangar waiting for a break in the weather. The dive team will not be searching because it's too dangerous for the divers," the Sheriff's office wrote. "We are doing our best to find them to bring closure to the family."
Dispatchers received multiple calls around 2:30 p.m. Sunday reporting a man, a woman and two kids being pulled into the ocean. The woman managed to escape and rescue crews managed to pull the man from the ocean, but efforts to resuscitate him failed and he died on the beach. He's since been identified as being 40-year-old Petaluma resident Michael Wyman.
Officials closed Blind Beach Monday and told locals to stay away during the rescue.
"Please do not go out to the beach to look for the kids. It's very dangerous and we don't want to have any more drowning victims," the Sonoma Sheriff's Office wrote.
Helping in the rescue efforts was California State Parks lifeguards, the Monte Rio Fire Protection District, the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Highway Patrol.
