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3.29.2010

family searches for body of drowned swimmer

In San Diego, authorities have been searching for the body of 18-year-old Troy Le, who disappeared beneath the waves at Torrey Pines State Beach two weekends ago while rescuing his girlfriend from a rip current: Lifeguards End Search For Missing Swimmer.

Le is presumed drowned but no sign of his body has turned up. His family has standing vigil at the beach every day for more than a week, and has asked local divers for help: Troy Le's family seeks help in search for missing swimmer's body.
Troy Le's family has been standing vigil at the beach every day for more than a week, but no sign of his body has turned up, the San Diego Union- Tribune reported. Le and girlfriend Jessica Eung, both 19, got caught in a rip current about 6:25 p.m. a week ago Saturday.

Lifeguards rescued Eung, who is hospitalized in intensive care. She is a freshman at Grossmont College where she is the top-ranked tennis player. Megan Haber, her college tennis coach, told the newspaper she was improving daily.

Le was a freshman at San Diego Mesa College. He pushed a body board to Eung, though she was unable to reach it just before she went under, The Union- Tribune reported.

Hoa Nguyen, a longtime friend of Le's, said family and friends held a memorial for him at the beach on Saturday. Le, a graduate of Mission Bay High School, was just learning how to swim, he said. Eung, a graduate of Crawford High School, did not know to swim, her father told state lifeguard Lt. Ed Vodrazka earlier.
Le was last seen pushing a bodyboard toward his girlfriend, Jessica Eung, when they were both caught in a rip current about fifty yards from shore. Witnesses in a nearby parking lot called lifeguards after seeing the two struggling in the water and screaming for help. More here: Lifeguard recounts dramatic beach rescue attempts.