Searchers Find Body of Missing 2-Year-Old Boy

The body of a 2-year-old Oxnard boy who disappeared while walking with his mother along Hueneme Beach was found Friday morning about 100 yards offshore by the U.S. Coast Guard.

After an autopsy Friday, the Ventura County coroner’s office said Auguste Forest Scott was the victim of an accidental drowning.

“There is nothing suspicious to lead us to believe it was anything other than a horrible accident,” said Senior Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens.

The Port Hueneme Police Department is still investigating how far the child was from his mother, Diana Smith, when she initially discovered that he had disappeared during their walk with the family dog.

Auguste was last seen playing on the pedestrian path near the west jetty area of the beach about 11 a.m. Thursday, after he strayed from Smith.

Police said Smith told them that when she turned around, the boy had vanished. The city Police Department, with assistance from the Ventura County sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, the Oxnard Police Department, the Ventura County Fire Department and the Coast Guard, launched an air, land and sea search for the boy Thursday, without success.

The Coast Guard resumed its search Friday morning and found his body in the vicinity of the lighthouse, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Fisher.

Smith’s landlord and neighbor, Fred Barnett, said Smith, a 41-year-old single mom, was “devastated.”

His wife, Elayda, said that Auguste’s father had abandoned Smith before the boy was born. She described Smith as a doting mother.

“Her whole life is devoted to that baby,” she said.