Girl, 5, who drowned in Half Moon Bay loved the beach
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Family members gathered together on Tuesday night to mourn a 5-year-old girl who was swept out to sea in Half Moon Bay and died. Yaretzi Noemi Biorato, 5, of Merced, drowned in the ocean over the weekend.
Yaretzi went to Martin’s Beach on Saturday afternoon with her grandparents and 7-year-old brother. The girl loved the ocean and had visited Martin’s Beach many times before, her mother told KRON4.
“It was just a regular weekend where they would take the kids out. Their favorite was to go to the beach. I have so many pictures of them at that beach,” the girl’s mother, Yesenia Vega, told KRON4.
A big wave swept little Yaretzi into the ocean, and her grandfather swam out trying to save her.
“They got swept in. My daughter got swept in and her grandpa jumped in for her. The grandma and my son were also swept in.”
The grandmother and Vega’s 7-year-old son were able to make it back to the beach and called for help. Yaretzi and her grandfather were still struggling in the water.
A San Mateo County Fire Department rescue team was able to locate Yaretzi with a drone and pulled her out of the water. The young girl was pronounced deceased after she was airlifted to a hospital.
A U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue crew searched 100 square miles for the 54-year-old grandfather. They suspended their search on Sunday, and the grandfather remained missing on Tuesday.
“The decision to suspend search efforts is one of the hardest decisions to make, but our crews searched for nearly 24 hours without any sightings of the missing person,” said Capt. Jordan Baldueza of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco.
Yaretzi is remembered as a loveable, happy-go-lucky girl who loved giving hugs. Her favorite colors were pink and purple. “She was a very beautiful little girl,” Vega said. “This has been the hardest thing ever. The pain is unimaginable.”
The girl’s family organized a GoFundMe page to raise money for Yaretzi’s funeral.
The National Weather Service issued a beach hazards advisory last weekend due to potential sneaker waves, rip currents, and a powerful November ocean swell.
Kary Smith, a deputy harbor master for the San Mateo County Harbor District, said wave energy is funneled into Martin’s Beach during big swells. “It really focuses the energy of the wave that’s coming in. It can be even more intense,” Smith said.
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