Heavy Surf Stalls Search for Missing Doctor

Hampered by pounding surf and the resultant zero visibility for divers, Los Angeles County lifeguards Thursday temporarily abandoned a search for a Beverly Hills doctor who apparently drowned in stormy waters off Malibu.

Dr. Jeff Glaser, 31, a former member of the Yale University swim team, disappeared while swimming off the private Carbon Beach near the Malibu Pier around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Glaser was attending a picnic with some friends when the incident occurred, authorities said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and lifeguards reported that three women--including Glaser’s female companion, Deborah Treiman--ran to a jet ski rental booth near the pier to summon help when they discovered the anesthesiologist was missing.

“The women said they had last seen Glaser about 75 yards from shore and that no one had seen him walk out of the water,” Zuma Beach lifeguard Lt. James Richards said.

Coast guard and Sheriff’s Department helicopters scanned the coastline for the North Beverly Drive resident on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, Zuma lifeguards used their 30-foot rescue boat, the Malibu Baywatch, to comb the area without success. And after a two-hour operation, a four-member diving team from the county’s northern lifeguards section suspended their search.

“We would have been lucky if they had found anything,” lifeguard Lt. Russ Walker said. “There is not much we can do when there is zero visibility underwater.”

Authorities planned to resume their search for Glaser today.

Lifeguard officials said it is possible Glaser was the victim of a combination of unusually heavy surf and high tides that began slamming into Malibu and other south-facing beaches on Wednesday.

Zuma Beach lifeguards reported making more than 70 rescues Wednesday. In the evening, the high surf crossed the shoreline and flooded the beach’s parking lot about 75 yards away. Surprised lifeguards called tow trucks to rescue their cars from the rising waters. Richards said the lifeguards also took steps to secure their 13 lifeguard towers, fearing that the swirling seawater would wash the wooden structures out to sea.

“Some people thought the water was going to take the entire place away. It even flooded our garage downstairs,” Richards said. “I have not seen anything like this during the summer.”

Lifeguards said they had nowhere near those problems on Thursday as the surf, generated by a storm system in the South Pacific, slowly began to subside.

Two- to four-foot breakers were forecast for today.