The body of a woman was found Saturday on a remote beach north of Santa Cruz, and it is likely that of Erica Fox, the 55-year-old woman who disappeared while swimming with an ocean swimmers' group last week.

Authorities recovered a body Saturday on a remote "pocket beach" in Wilder Ranch, near the town of Davenport, California, north of Santa Cruz, and the father of missing swimmer Erica Fox has confirmed that it is his daughter's remains. As James Fox told local television station KSBW, based on the wetsuit and watch found on the body, he believes this is Erica's body, though the county coroner has not yet released an official identification.

Separately, Fox's husband, Jean-Francois Vanreusel, confirmed the identification to the Mercury News, saying that Fox's body was found with the white "shark band" still around her ankle — an electromagnetic device that is meant to ward off shark attacks. Vanreusel was swimming about 100 yards behind his wife at the time of the attack, and he says, "She didn’t want to live in fear. She lived her life fully."

Vanreusel led a vigil with fellow swimmers in Pacific Grove on Sunday.

Fox, a Pebble Beach resident and an avid swimmer and triathlete, was swimming with a group she co-founded called the Kelp Krawlers on Sunday, December 21, off Lovers' Point near Pacific Grove, as the group did every Sunday. Other swimmers reported hearing a loud splash, and at least one eyewitness said they saw a shark breach in the area with what appeared to be a human body in its mouth.

When Fox did not return with the group to shore, a search was launched that covered 84 square nautical miles, which was ultimately suspended last Monday.

Where the body was found Saturday was about 30 miles north of the Monterey County area where the group had been swimming.

The Santa Cruz County Coroner will ultimately release the cause of death for the person they found Saturday, believed to be Fox.

Ironically, as the NY Post previously noted, Fox had posted a photo to a social media account showing a human diver swimming alongside a great white shark, with the caption, "This is the most DANGEROUS ANIMAL in the world, and by his side, a SHARK swims peacefully... Share if you agree."

Fox was a decorated triathlete who had participated in the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon every year for 20 years.

Following her disappearance and presumed death, friend and fellow ocean swimmer Sara Rubin wrote of Fox, "Multiple books have been written about the science of swimming and what it does for our brains. But Erica never needed a book to tell her what she knew through experience: Swimming in the ocean is a balm for body and mind, an adventure as much as a meditation."

While experts maintain that shark attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, this is the second such attack to impact the Kelp Krawlers group in three years. As the Mercury News notes, another member, Steve Bruemmer, was attacked and left with severe leg injuries in June 2022.

Previously: Swimmer in Suspected Monterey Shark Attack Was a Triathlete, Swam at Same Beach for 20 Years