Search Underway for Young Girl After Mother, Children Swept Into Ocean at Laguna Beach

Rescuers were able to reach a mother and one child, but an adolescent female remained unaccounted for as of Tuesday.

Published: 6/10/2026, 4:37:25 PM EDT

Search Underway for Young Girl After Mother, Children Swept Into Ocean at Laguna Beach — Orange County Sheriff Harbor Patrol searches for missing child on June 9, 2026 (Courtesy of Tuljai Parker via NTD)

Laguna Beach authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard are searching for a missing girl after a group of swimmers, including a mother and her children, were swept into the ocean near Treasure Island Beach Tuesday evening.

The Laguna Beach Marine Safety Department said in a news release shared with NTD News that around 7:30 p.m., a 911 call came in reporting multiple swimmers in distress in the waters off Treasure Island Beach. Rescuers were able to reach a mother and one child, but an adolescent female remained unaccounted for as of Tuesday.

Marine Safety immediately began to search near the victim's last known location. The effort has since grown into a multi-agency operation involving the Laguna Beach Marine Safety Department, the Orange County Sheriff's Department Harbor Patrol, and the Coast Guard.

Two bystanders who had jumped in to help pull the swimmers to safety were evaluated at the scene and transported by the Laguna Beach Fire Department in stable condition.

As of Tuesday, search crews had expanded their perimeter well beyond the original area, according to a city press release. Officials said the public may notice fewer personnel concentrated at Treasure Island Beach itself, but stressed that does not mean the search has slowed. Instead, it represents a standard strategy in which assets are redeployed across a wider stretch of coastline and offshore waters based on ocean currents, wave action, and drift modeling.

"Search operations initially focus heavily on the last known location of a missing person," officials said. "As time passes, particularly during periods of large surf and strong currents, search teams expand outward to areas where conditions may have carried a person beyond the original search zone."

The rescue came during a period of a dangerous stretch of surf along Southern California's coastline. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued Beach Hazard Statements covering Orange County and San Diego County coastal areas, warning of a south swell arriving from 190 degrees with a wave period of 18 to 20 seconds, generating surf of 4 to 7 feet with sets reaching up to 9 feet along south-facing beaches, according to the NWS San Diego office. The statement remains in effect through Thursday afternoon.

A separate Beach Hazards Statement from the NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard office warned of breaking waves of 3 to 6 feet, with some sets reaching 7 feet, along Ventura County beaches through Thursday evening. Both statements cited a high risk of rip currents capable of pulling swimmers and surfers out to sea and of washing people off beaches and rocky areas.

"Remain out of the water due to hazardous swimming conditions, or stay near occupied lifeguard towers," the NWS Los Angeles advisory stated. "Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks."

The City of Laguna Beach also issued a warning on its Facebook page Monday urging beachgoers to exercise extreme caution. "When in doubt, don't go out," the post read. "Only those with expert ocean experience should enter the water."

The dangers of rip currents are well documented. Following two rip-current drowning deaths at Cocoa Beach, Florida, in April, Cocoa Beach Fire Chief Justin Grimes warned that even experienced swimmers are vulnerable. "Rip currents can make water move five to eight miles per hour," Grimes said. "It doesn't sound like a lot, but the density of water is so much more than air—it's like equivalent to walking through a hurricane. So even the strongest swimmers can be overtaken by rip currents."

Grimes added that panic is often more dangerous than the current itself, advising anyone caught in a rip current to stay calm, swim parallel to shore, and call for help.

Ocean conditions along the Laguna Beach coastline remain hazardous, and authorities say large surf is expected to persist through the end of the week. Anyone who spots anything unusual along the coast is urged to call 911 immediately.