A recent Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, graduate is feared dead after she was swept out to sea Sunday night at a beach near Santa Cruz, California.
Se Nah Park, 24, of San Bruno, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area, was reported missing to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office around 8 p.m. Sunday, according to a Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Office.
She was last seen in the water near Panther State Beach north of Santa Cruz, and after two days, the U.S. Coast Guard has now suspended its search for her.
A group of Park’s friends told deputies that they were on the beach when an incoming tide knocked them over, sweeping Park into the ocean, according to the post.
The six friends had been celebrating a birthday and gathered on the beach to make a small bonfire, according to Lookout Santa Cruz.
When four were ready to leave, they were hit by a wave near the beach’s Keyhole rock formation, an arch between the cove and the open ocean.
Her father Kwang Park told Lookout Santa Cruz that the last thing the friends saw of Se Nah “was the light from her cellphone in the darkness.”
In a Facebook post, Kwang Park said a group of volunteers including people from her church, Cal Poly alumni and family and friends had also helped with search.
“My daughter, Se Nah Park, was swept out to sea on November 8 at Panther Beach @keyhole (Davenport-Santa Cruz),” he wrote in his post. “Her body has not been found. Asking any hikers hiking the coast keep your eyes open for my precious daughter.”
Park graduated from Cal Poly in 2024 with a degree in chemistry. She lived in San Bruno while working as an analytical chemist associate at Align Technology, according to her LinkedIn bio.
Search of Santa Cruz coast shows no sign of missing woman
The Sheriff’s Office, Santa Cruz Fire Department and Coast Guard deployed an extensive search overnight including drones, ground crews and helicopters, along with additional boats and aerial resources the following day, according to the post.
Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and coordinated the launch of a Station Monterey 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew and an Air Station San Francisco MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew for the search, according to the Coast Guard’s news release.
The Coast Guard searched for eight hours across 95 square miles of coastline, deploying MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrews from Air Station San Francisco, boatcrews from Station Monterey and an Incident Management Division drone pilot.
But on Tuesday afternoon, the Coast Guard said it had exhausted all available resources.
“Suspending a search is a difficult decision,” Coast Guard Lt. Max Holloway said in the release. “Given the extensive search effort of the surrounding area and environmental conditions, we have suspended active search efforts pending further developments.”
“We worked closely with our partner agencies and exhausted all available resources in our attempt to locate Ms. Park,” he continued. “Our deepest condolences are with her family and loved ones.”