Divers Call off Search for Missing Swimmer

After searching for four hours, divers called off Wednesday's effort to recover the body of a swimmer missing from Salt Creek Beach since Sunday.

Two to three divers searched the ocean floor between 7-11 a.m. for 34-year-old Frank Daniel Austin, who vanished Sunday afternoon while swimming with an underwater camera. The recovery effort may resume again Thursday.

OC Lifeguards' Dive Team performed a SCUBA search with mutual aid from OC Sheriffs Dive Team off the waters off Salt Creek this morning, said Jason Young, Orange County Lifeguards Chief Jason Young.

"We did not find the missing swimmer or anything related to the case. This will conclude any ongoing underwater search effort by OC Lifeguards. We will continue to survey the water from shore and have plans to make a recovery should anything turn up," he said.

Backtracking

"The search has been officially called off and the man has not been located,” said Orange County Sheriff's Department Capt. Steve Doan. "It now becomes a recovery effort. The likelihood of finding him alive diminishes with every passing minute. It's very sad."

Austin went swimming around 4 p.m. Sunday, and was reported missing by his mother around 7:20 p.m.

On Sunday evening, Young said an interview was conducted, and officials determined Austin was missing, and an actual search began at 7:35 p.m., he said.

"His mother said he is a good swimmer, and he was headed out to take photos with an underwater camera," Young said Monday. Young added that the man was swimming in an area where lifeguards were posted, but there was a high surf advisory, and rough seas may have caused him to lose control while under water.

The search was carried out by land, air and sea until 11 p.m. Sunday.