A body recovered off California's Central Coast has been identified as a local 55-year-old triathlete who was reported missing in a suspected shark attack.
Erica Fox's was recovered at around 2 p.m. local time on Dec. 27 from the ocean south of Davenport Beach, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Monday, Dec. 29. The discovery came after Fox, of nearby Monterey County, disappeared while swimming with more than a dozen people on Dec. 21.
Fox's father, James Fox, told KSBW-TV that his daughter was recovered on a "remote pocket beach" and was identified by the clothing she was wearing.
Fox's husband, Jean-Francois Vanreusel, told The Mercury News that Fox was still in her wetsuit and wearing a Garmin watch and a "shark band" − designed to deter attacks − that was attached to her ankle.
"She didn’t want to live in fear," Vanreusel told the newspaper. "She lived her life fully.”
