2 missing swimmers at San Francisco's Ocean Beach prompts warning

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Officials issued a warning to keep beachgoers safe after two teens went missing in the waters of Ocean Beach in San Francisco Saturday night.

There was an extensive five hour search by the U.S. Coast Guard and the San Francisco Fire Department, but they were never found, so officials called off the search.

National Park Service lifeguard Doug Armstrong patrolled Ocean Beach Sunday, with a strong message to would be swimmers without proper gear like a wetsuit. "Ocean Beach is dangerous, lots of rip currents, heavy surf advisories often," Armstrong said.

That warning came too late for two 17-year-old teenage boys from Vallejo who decided to brave the heavy surf and were swept out to sea.

Firefighters used jet skis and a rescue boat to search for them, but the boys were not found.

Officials said five boys, wearing only swim trunks locked arms and waded into the cold surf. Rip currents quickly knocked them off their feet, but four made it to safety."One of the four boys turned around, noticed the fifth boy was still in distress and reentered surf line to help, he ended up being our second victim," San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Jon Baxter said.

"Theres no escaping it today, it's rolling in quickly and for those without a safety device, you get sucked in, hard to get out," surfer Eben Strousse said.

There have been a dozen searches so far this year on Ocean Beach.