Cause Of Death Confirmed For Missing Swimmer Off Bay Area Coast

MONTEREY COUNTY, CA — The Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Corner's Office officially announced Thursday that the 55-year-old Monterey County resident who went missing in December, died from a shark attack.

Erica Fox had been missing since Dec. 21 after a suspected shark incident near Lovers Point. Her body was recovered from the ocean south of Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz County on Dec. 27 by Cal Fire and Sheriff’s deputies. She was positively identified two days later.

On Thursday, the sheriff's office said the cause of death was sharp and blunt force injuries and drowning consistent with a shark attack. The manner of death has been ruled an accident, officials said.

The search for Fox began following reports from two people in Monterey County who reported seeing a possible shark before Fox, who was swimming with a group, disappeared. Witnesses told officials that the swimmer may have encountered a shark while offshore near Lovers Point. One witness reported a large splash, prompting the swimming group to return to shore where they discovered Fox was gone.

One person claimed to see a shark breach the surface, apparently holding a human body in its mouth, before submerging. U.S. Coast Guard officials confirmed a sighting was reported in the area but stated there was no confirming evidence to correlate it with the missing person.

Fox was discovered on the Davenport shoreline still wearing her "shark band" on her ankle.

Independent scientific testing indicates that strong electric field deterrents, such as Shark Shield, are likely the most effective option, according to Dr. Christopher Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach. He noted that while no shark deterrent is 100% effective, some perform better than others, depending on the species and conditions.

However, he emphasized that "Shark Banz seem particularly ineffective for warding off white sharks."

Lowe pointed out that even these costly, stronger deterrents only offer limited and variable efficacy, meaning the actual benefit of increased user security is uncertain.

“Your chances of being bitten while recreating along the California coastline is already incredibly low,” Lowe told Patch. “So there is likely no statistically supportive benefit of deterrents at this time.”