NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office has identified all three of the men who died while diving for abalone near Caspar on Sunday.
The victims are Tae Won Oh, 49, of Dublin; Hyun Kook Shin, 49, of Suwanee, Ga.; and Aaron Kim, 53, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, according to Capt. Greg Van Patten of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
The men were in a group of five abalone divers in the southern portion of Caspar Anchorage Bay on Sunday afternoon when they became trapped in the surf of a narrow channel between two rock outcroppings where they had entered the ocean, Van Patten said.
Van Patten said witnesses described the surf as being rough and dangerous for diving conditions with swells as high as 7 and 8 feet. Seeing the men in distress, a nearby fisherman called 911.
Just after 3 p.m. Sunday, Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to assist California State Parks Rangers in Caspar on the report of multiple drowning victims, Van Patten said.
Personnel from the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department, California State Parks, United States Coast Guard and Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office took part in a joint rescue operation, according to Van Patten.
Van Patten said two of the men were recovered from the water by boat and helicopter and brought to shore at Caspar Beach. First responders attempted to resuscitate them but were unsuccessful, and both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The third diver initially could not be located and a search continued throughout the day. Van Patten said the man's body was found at about 7 p.m. that day in a small cove in the same general area. Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department launched a technical rope rescue and recovered the deceased man.
The two surviving divers in the group were uninjured and treated and released at the scene, Van Patten said.
Van Patten said a coroner’s investigation into the three deaths is ongoing. Autopsies were conducted on Tuesday, with the official results pending blood alcohol and toxicology analysis.
REGIONAL: Officials identify abalone divers who died in Sunday diving incident
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