Search for bodies of two Banning men at Huntington Beach continues

Efforts continued today to find and recover the bodies of two Inland Empire men lost in the surf and presumed drowned at Huntington Beach, a spokesperson said.

The search for John Shua Lee, 24, and Shao Moua, 20, both of Banning, began at 7 a.m. today, said Martha Werth, spokesperson for the Huntington Beach Fire Department.

“The Marine Safety Division of the City of Huntington Beach will continue to search for the victims utilizing the lifeguard rescue boat, a vehicle patrol, lifeguard towers and periodically aerial searches by the Huntington Beach Police Department helicopter. They’ll be continuing the search until the bodies are found, however long it takes,” Werth said.

She said it was not immediately known when today’s search might end, if the bodies were not recovered today.

Lee and Moua were among a group of people celebrating a wedding at the Loatian Evangelical Church, but it was not clear if the ceremony was on the strand. Lee and Mou and two other men got into trouble in the 5-6 foot waves just south of Huntington Beach Pier about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

“You’ve got riptides, you’ve got large surf, you’ve got the ocean floor which is very uneven. So, unless you’re a very, very good swimmer we recommend that people who don’t swim well stay out of the ocean water,” Werth told KCAL9. “Especially with the temperature of the water in the high 50s, it’s very cold for this time of year, and being that both young men were not very good swimmers, it’s very bleak.”