Body Found in Seal Beach Is Missing Swimmer's

Police confirmed today that the body that turned up on a Seal Beach jetty last week was that of a Long Beach man who disappeared Aug. 31 in high surf and fierce rip currents.

The crew of a patrol boat from the U.S. Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach discovered the body on the west jetty of Anaheim Bay on Thursday afternoon, said Seal Beach police Sgt. Steve Bowles.

The Orange County coroner's office conducted an autopsy and used dental records to identify the victim as 24-year-old Joe Wayne Benford, Bowles said. There were no obvious signs of foul play, but coroner's officials are waiting for toxicology results to confirm the cause of death, Bowles said. The area where the body was found is near where Benford was reported missing Aug. 31, he noted.

Benford was one of four young men who entered the water at Surfside Beach in spite of a high-surf advisory, police said. After experiencing a strong rip current, they decided to get out of the water, but Benford failed to return.

He was last seen about 6 p.m. that day about 200 yards offshore, between Sunset Beach and the northern entrance of Anaheim Bay.

"The lifeguards reported seeing him in the water, and then not anymore,'' Coast Guard spokesman Trent Kelly said.

 —City News Service