[Update 4:00 p.m.:] Sheriff’s officials confirmed the missing person was “already at a nearby hospital” when she was found. They did not provide word on her condition or any details as to her identity.
[Update 1:20 p.m.:] Sheriff’s officials reported they are working to confirm whether the missing person has been found at an area hospital.
“She may be in one of the local hospitals,” Sgt. James Braden of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station told The Malibu Times. Braden did not confirm whether or not the person, whose clothes and journal were found on Zuma Beach early Thursday, had been identified, stating that it was not yet confirmed to law enforcement.
“I did hear that [the person had been located] just a minute ago, but they haven’t sent anyone to establish that she’s actually there,” Braden said.
[Update 12:15 p.m.:] The search for a possible missing person off Zuma Beach in Malibu continued Thursday afternoon, though Los Angeles County Sheriff’s said L.A. County Fire and Lifeguard personnel had suspended their water search by the afternoon.
Water and land searches were being conducted by Sheriff’s deputies.
“Deputies are continuing to search the area down at the west end of Malibu for this person,” said Sgt. James Braden of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. “Also our sheriff’s dive team, through our emergency services detail, is down in the area doing a water search.”
Sheriffs continued to search on land in the area as well.
“They’re searing all the west end of Malibu for the person, throughout the different shopping centers, the beach area, all that,” Braden confirmed.
No further details about the unconfirmed missing person had been provided.
[Update 10:30 a.m.:] Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials provided more information Thursday morning about the search for a possible missing person off Zuma Beach in Malibu.
As of 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 3, the search had been going on for about four hours, with a call coming in at 6:30 a.m.
“Basically, the deputies responded to a call around 6:30 this morning,” Sgt. James Braden with the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department told The Malibu Times. “Someone had located someone’s property out on the beach.”
That property included what appeared to be a journal, Braden described.
“[The property] looked kind of suspicious, possibly some journal … it seems maybe the person was depressed or something,” Braden said. The parents of the possible missing person were contacted.
“They were able to contact the parents, and the [possible missing] person had mental issues in the past, so they’re continuing to search at this time,” Braden said.
L.A. County Lifeguards have a dive team out searching and the Coast Guard and L.A. County Fire have dispatched helicopters. Sheriff’s deputies are also involved.
The Coast Guard is searching for an unconfirmed person in the water near Zuma Beach – Tower 2, according to a release sent at 10 a.m. Thursday morning.
Coast Guard watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach command center received a call around 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning, reporting that a note was left on the beach near clothing, giving the suspicion that someone had entered the water.
A MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from the Los Angeles station and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from the Channel Islands station were immediately launched to search for the possible missing person. The Los Angeles County Fire Department, Baywatch Malibu and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department have members assisting in the search.
“There has been no witness to any persons entering the water in that area,” the release read.
The Coast Guard has requested that anyone with information on the location of the possible missing person should contact the Los Angeles-Long Beach command center at 310.521.3801.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
