A Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station patrol boat found a body near the West Jetty in Anaheim Bay on Thursday, Sept. 15.
On Monday, Sept. 19, Seal Beach Police Sgt. Steve Bowles said the body had been identified as that of missing swimmer Joewayne Benford. The Long Beach resident was 24 years old.
A swimmer was reported missing off the Surfside Colony beach on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
The Orange County Coroner is awaiting toxicology results but found no evidence of foul play.
As reported by the local press, four young men went swimming that day. They ran into a rip current. One of them, Benford, did not come out of the water.
Seal Beach Lifeguards, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department searched for him.
The body was found at about 3:12 p.m., last Thursday, floating in the water near buoy marker #5, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Web site.
The Navy notified the Seal Beach Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department.
Seal Beach Lifeguards, Seal Beach Police, Sheriff’s Department homicide investigators and coroner’s personnel participated in the effort to recover the body. (In Orange County, the Sheriff’s Department and the Coroner are the same agency.)
Divers found the body wedged between the rocks, according to the OCSD Web site.
Divers had recovered the body by 6:37 p.m.
Sheriff’s deputies took photos of the scene before transporting the body to the Coroner’s Office for autopsy, according to the Sheriff’s Web site. According to the Seal Beach Marine Safety (Lifeguard) Department, Sheriff’s Department divers searched the East Jetty near Surfside for the missing swimmer on Tuesday morning, Sept. 13. They didn’t find anything at the time.
Crime Log Compiled by Charles M. Kelly
The crimes listed in the Sun Newspapers were reported to Seal Beach Police Department, Los Alamitos Police Department and Orange County Sheriff Department between Sept. 5 and Sept. 15, 2011.
Only street names are used; times given are reported times, not incident times.
Crime Log entries are based on preliminary information. Space limitations make it impossible to publish every incident. Until proven guilty in a court of law, all suspects are considered innocent.
IN SEAL BEACH
Monday, September 5
Health and Safety—1:02 p.m.—Marina Drive—The caller reported finding a bag of marijuana and a pipe near the raquetball courts. It turned out there was no marijuana, just a pipe that was placed in the trash. Matter solved.
Animal Bite—1 p.m.—Coastline Drive—The caller’s friend was delivering newspapers door-to-door and was bitten on the back of the leg by a small dog. Report taken. Referred to Long Beach Animal Care Services.
Suspicious Circumstances—6:43 p.m.—Marina Drive—The caller said a man in a red 1980s Toyota asked the caller to jump his car.
The caller left to get her car. When she returned five minutes later, the man was gone. She did not believe she was gone long enough to get a cable jump from another driver. Log entry.
Tuesday, September 6
Drinking in Public—3:02 p.m.—Seal Beach Boulevard—The caller, relaying second hand information, said two young Asian girls were drinking alcohol near the benches.
They apparently purchased a six pack of beer inside and were now out front drinking.
Patrol unit 141 found adult foreign exchange students who were not aware of drinking ordinances. Counseled.
Stray Animal—6:29 p.m.—Pacific Coast Highway and Seal Beach Boulevard—The caller reported a medium sized German shepherd mix traveling southbound on the south side of Pacific Coast Highway on Seal Beach Boulevard. Referred to Long Beach Animal Care Services.
Citizen Assist—7:52 p.m.—Ocean Avenue—The caller put his credit card in the dollar slot of the parking ticket machine. Assisted.
Wednesday, September 7
Welfare Check on a Dog—9:38 a.m.—Marina Drive and 5th Street—The caller said a black, medium sized dog was locked inside an SUV parked under a tree. Police unit 107 found two dogs in the SUV. The windows were down and the dogs were not in distress at that time.
Transient—12:21 p.m.—Main Street—The caller said an elderly woman was being followed by a man who was described as a transient. When the woman came inside the store, the man followed her and now appeared to be waiting for her to come outside. The caller did not see the suspect and was apparently relaying information from the elderly woman. The suspect was described as a white man in his late 40s wearing a navy blue jacket.
Band—12:54 p.m.—Central Avenue and Main Street—The caller said a band was playing music without a permit.
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—8:48 p.m.—Seal Beach Boulevard—The caller thought the store was going to be robbed when two individuals entered, one wearing a red full body nylon outfit and the other wearing a green full body nylon outfit.
A customer apparently told the caller that she waited in her car when she saw the two individuals enter the store because she also thought the store was going to be robbed.
Sunday, September 11
Attempted Vehicle Burglary—5:08 a.m.—Crestview—The caller said a man tried to get into a white Suburban. The suspect had a black backpack. The suspect as described as a man—there was no further description. He left in a gray vehicle.
Petty Theft Report—8:22 a.m.—Driftwood Avenue—The crime apparently occurred between 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 and 8 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 11. Loss: a GPS unit taken from an unlocked vehicle.
IN ROSSMOOR
Monday, September 12
Vandalism Report—7:11 a.m.—Tigertail Drive—The log did not describe the vandalism.
Citizen Assist—11:16 a.m.—Coleridge Drive—The caller reported being followed by a Samsung maintenance van. A man in the van yelled and screamed at the caller, who lost the suspect in the area of Seal Beach And Los Alamitos.
Vandalism Report—2:06 p.m.—Blume Drive—The log did not describe the vandalism.
Burglary in Progress—10:48 p.m.—Bostonian Drive—The caller said she heard a door open and could hear noises in the garage.
Tuesday, September 13
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—9:31 a.m.—Wallingsford Road and Huntley Drive—The caller requested a patrol check for a pick-up truck driving slowly up and down the street that was last seen going northbound on Los Alamitos Boulevard.
The caller was afraid the driver would return and thought the driver might have been casing the area. The suspect was described as a white man, 50 to 60 years old with a mustache. The pick-up truck was described as a small orange two-door with stickers on the back window.
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—12:37 p.m.—Piedmont Avenue and Foster Road—The caller requested a patrol check for a woman who had been standing on the corner on a cell phone for the past three hours.
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—4:38 p.m.—Martha Ann Drive—The caller requested a patrol check for an occupied Jeep that was parked at the location for the past half hour. No crime. The man in the Jeep was an automobile detailer looking for a customer.
Wednesday, September 14
Burglary Report—11 a.m.—Silver Fox Road—This was an attempted burglary. The log did not say if this was a residential or vehicle burglary.
Thursday, September 15
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—12:11 a.m.—Ruth Elaine Drive—The caller’s 18-year-old daughter said a man touched her feet while she was sleeping. The daughter did not see him leave or get a description. The sliding door was now wide open.
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—1:30 p.m.—St. Albans Drive—A man was talking loudly on his cell phone. The caller thought he was casing the area.
Suspicious Vehicle—6:50 p.m.—Shakespeare Drive and Kenilworth Drive—An unoccupied vehicle with a paper license plate on Shakespeare between Kenilworth and Orangewood matched the description of suspect vehicle in recent burglaries.
