Recovered Body Confirmed as Shark Attack Victim Erica Fox
Over a week after Erica Fox, 55, went missing during a routine ocean swim in Pacific Grove near Monterey, CA, her body has been found an hour drive north.
Crews recovered a body Saturday, on a remote stretch south of Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz. Speculation swirled whether or not the body was that of Fox, suspected to be attacked by a shark during her swim days earlier. Now, family members have confirmed the identity.
Following the confirmation of Fox’s body, family and friends gathered in the spot where the incident occurred, remembering their fallen.
Per local news: “Fox’s father, James Fox, confirmed to KSBW 8 that the woman recovered on a ‘remote pocket beach’ in Wilder Ranch was his daughter. He said she was identified by the clothing she was wearing.”
At the time of the incident, Fox had been swimming with a group called the Kelp Krawlers, a group of swimmers who swam at Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove every Sunday. Witnesses reported hearing a “large splash” prior to Fox’s disappearance.
According to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Christopher Sappey, who spoke with SFGate:
“The person who reported the shark sighting claimed they saw a shark breach the water with what appeared to be a human body in its mouth. They then witnessed the shark submerge below the waterline without resurfacing.”
Fox’s husband, Jean-Francis Vanreusel, was reportedly swimming nearby his wife at the time of the attack. Speaking to Mercury News, Vanreusel said that his wife was wearing a shark band – an electromagnetic device meant to fend off sharks – at the time of the attack.
On Sunday, during an impromptu memorial – a mile-long procession along to coastline, mirroring Fox’s last swim – Vanreusel said: “She didn’t want to live in fear. She lived her life fully.”
Rest in peace, Erica Fox.