Body identified as missing Hawthorne swimmer Derrick Jeffries

A body that washed ashore Wednesday at Dockweiler State Beach was identified on Thursday as that of a swimmer who went missing last week off Manhattan Beach, authorities said.

The dead man was identified as Derrick Jeffries, 24, of Hawthoe, coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said. The death was being investigated as an apparent accident, and an autopsy was pending, Winter said.

Jeffries’ body was discovered by a beachgoer about 12:35 p.m. in front of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Scattergood power plant, more than two miles north of where he disappeared in heavy surf in Manhattan Beach in the early evening of April 19.

Friends at the scene said they did not hear the former U.S. Army soldier call out and were unaware that he might have been struggling in the water.

An extensive dive and sonar search by the U.S. Coast Guard, Los Angeles County lifeguards and the Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol was called off the next day, but family and friends retued to the shoreline daily hoping for any trace of Jeffries.

His parents were called to Dockweiler State Beach on Wednesday to identify his body, but a family spokesman declined to comment, awaiting confirmation from authorities. He could not immediately be reached Thursday.

Advertisement