Former WWE star Shad Gaspard is missing after he was pulled out to sea by a riptide and failed to re-emerge safely to the beach. Gaspard, 39, was swimming with his 10-year-old son at Venice Beach, California, on Sunday when the incident occurred.
The Mail report that Gaspard's son was rescued and was unharmed, but the ex-wrestler is yet to be found.
Lifeguard for the LA County Fire Department, Kenichi Haskett, said: "We had one of our lifeguards go out to make a double rescue of a father and a son.
"The father, unfortunately, got pushed down by a wave as they were getting pulled out of the current.
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"The lifeguard rescued and grabbed the boy, the son, and tried to grab the father as well.
"He ended up getting pushed down by a wave and we couldn't find him and we immediately started with our rescue boats, called in additional lifeguards to search that location of his dad."
Rescue teams were in place for more than three hours, including multiple lifeguards, divers, rescue boats and paramedics, but to no avail.
Eyewitness reports claim the boy and his mother, Siliana Gaspard, were inconsolable when the youngster was returned to shore. The boy was then taken away by an adult friend after around 15 minutes of looking for his father, leaving an agonising Siliana behind.
Venice Beach has only just reopened after the coronavirus pandemic.
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The search for Gaspard began again on Monday at 7am local time.
Gaspard appeared in the WWE over two spells, most notably from 2008-2010, fighting under his own name but as part of the tag team Cryme Tyme with JTG.
Following the end of his contract in November 2010, Gaspard had a brief stint working on the independent wrestling circuit before moving into films as an actor.
