Surfer’s Body Spotted at Beach; Second Recent Death Off Coast

A camper exercising on the beach early Tuesday found the body of a teen-ager who had been reported missing two days earlier after he entered an unusually heavy surf, police said.

Gustavo Nunez, 17, of Santa Ana was last seen Sunday about 3:30 p.m. at Huntington Beach State Park, where he “had gone into the surf and never came out,” according to Lt. Chuck Poe.

Nunez was the second person reported missing off the coast of Orange County after going to into heavy surf over the weekend. The body of Ali Maysami, 21, of Anaheim was found Monday off the shore of Picnic Beach in Laguna Beach.

Nunez’s friends had reported him missing and said he had been wearing a black T-shirt decorated with a skull and cross bones, and black shorts, police said.

About 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, a man at Bolsa Chica State Beach found a body with clothing matching that description, Poe said. An autopsy concluded that Nunez died of drowning in salt water.

Lifeguards and wave forecasters said Tuesday that the heavy surf from the weekend was tapering off. Average wave heights reached about four or five feet, said Sean Collins, a forecaster for Huntington Beach-based Surfline/Wavetrak.

Collins said beach-goers can expect to see heavier surf, reaching up to 10 feet, at the end of next week.