The 5-year-old San Bernardino girl who was swept out to sea by a massive wave in Laguna Beach this week was set to start kindergarten later this summer, school officials said.
Amada Mia Brown, who died after being caught in the powerful surf battering California’s coast Tuesday night, was scheduled to begin kindergarten in the San Bernardino City Unified School District in August, Communications Manager Maria Garcia told The California Post.
“We mourn Amada’s loss and hold her family in our thoughts during this difficult time,” Garcia said.
Amada was also set to attend a new student orientation next month, Garcia added.
The young girl vanished Tuesday evening after powerful waves pulled her, her mother and her brother into the ocean near the shoreline at Treasure Island Beach.
Heroic bystanders who took to the rough water managed to rescue Amada’s mother and brother, but Amada was carried out to sea.
Two of those who helped with the rescue were transported to a local hospital in stable condition with unspecified injuries.
After Amada disappeared, the US Coast Guard and multiple partner agencies launched a massive search spanning more than 30 hours and 90 square miles.
Video obtained by The California Post showed the frantic search for the young girl Tuesday night as officials used high-powered flashlights from the shore and cliffside.
The search was suspended Wednesday after authorities concluded further efforts were unlikely to succeed.
But on Thursday morning, a Laguna Beach Police Department aerial search located Amada’s body about 250 to 300 yards offshore and roughly a quarter-mile north of where she was swept away.
Amada’s father, Aaron Brown, paid tribute to his daughter during a vigil following the discovery.
He described her as a cheerful child who embraced life and loved being near the water.
“She liked ‘Moana,’ she liked ‘Frozen.’ She was my little princess,” he told ABC 7.
A online fundraiser posted to help Amada’s family had raised more than $12,000 by Friday afternoon.
The same powerful storm swells that took Amada’s life claimed another victim in Santa Cruz County on Wednesday, officials there said.
One person was confirmed killed and another remained in critical condition Friday afternoon after being swept into the ocean at Bonny Doon Beach in Santa Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff confirmed.
