The search continues for a former professional wrestler last seen swimming near Venice Beach on Sunday as his son was being rescued from the surf, but it is now considered a missing persons case, authorities said.
“Shad Gaspard was last seen by a Los Angeles County lifeguard about 3:40 p.m. (Sunday) as he swam in the ocean about 50 yards from Venice Beach in the county of Los Angeles,” a Los Angeles Police Department statement said. “When last seen by the lifeguard, a wave had crashed over (him) and he was swept out to sea.”
The incident occurred near the 4200 block of S. Ocean Front Walk, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. County lifeguards pulled Gaspard’s 10-year-old son from the water. He was evaluated by LAFD paramedics but did not require hospitalization.
The elder Gaspard, however, was nowhere to be found, prompting divers to begin a search of the water.
Underwater searching was halted at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, and the effort resumed shortly after 7 a.m. Monday, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division. Dive operations were suspended later Monday.
On Tuesday, the LAPD listed the case as a missing-persons investigation.
Gaspard was a star with World Wrestling Entertainment, making up one half of the tag team Cryme Time with his partner JTG.
On Monday, his wife, fitness trainer and nutritionist Siliana Gaspard, pled for help finding her husband on Instagram, posting two photos of him and saying he’d been missing since Sunday at the beach.
Gaspard was described as black, 6-feet-7, and weighing 265 pounds, with tattoos on his right shoulder and left chest.
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the LAPD Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800; 877-LAPD-247; or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.