UPDATED: Jan. 6, 12 p.m.
A Jewish father is dead and his two young children presumed drowned after a sneaker wave, a surge that appears with tremendous force and no warning, dragged them into the ocean at a Sonoma County beach last weekend.
The tragedy occurred on Sunday, Jan. 3, when Petaluma resident Michael Wyman, 40, his wife, Sarah, and their two children visited Blind Beach near Jenner along Sonoma’s rugged coastline. When the sudden rogue wave swept Anna, 7, and John, 4, out to sea, Wyman rushed in to save them. He was later pulled to shore but was pronounced dead at the scene. Despite ongoing aerial and underwater searches by the Sonoma County Sheriff and other agencies, the bodies of the children had not yet been recovered as of Wednesday.