A suspected rare, fatal shark attack that killed an avid ocean swimmer and triathlete last month near Santa Cruz has now been confirmed by the county coroner.

Erica Fox, the athletic 55-year-old Pebble Beach resident who went missing during a December 21 group swim that she regularly attended near Pacific Grove and whose body was later found on a beach north of Santa Cruz, did in fact die of a shark attack, says the Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner's Office.

"The Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Corner's Office has determined the cause of death to be sharp and blunt force injuries and submersion in water due to a shark attack," the department writes in a release. "The manner of death has been ruled an accident."

Fox's husband, Jean-Francois Vanreusel, who was also swimming with the same group on December 21, confirmed his wife's identity after her body was found nearly a week later — noting that she still had a "shark band" on one ankle, a device intended to emit electromagnetic waves thought to deter shark attacks and disrupt their hunting senses.

Vanreusel said his wife died doing what she loved, adding, "She didn’t want to live in fear. She lived her life fully."

Shark biologist Greg Skomal spoke about the case to NewsNation last month, suggesting that the shark likely mistook Fox for a seal or sea lion.

"There’s some account that she may have actually separated from the group because she’s a different, more proficient swimmer — that might have isolated her and this shark, you know, we think these are mistakes," Skomal said.

He added, "This shark made a mistake, but those kinds of mistakes, as we’ve learned here, can be deadly."

Skomal also said that the shark bands, while somewhat effective, don't work 100% of the time.

Fox is the second member of her ocean swimming club, the Kelp Krawlers, to be attacked by a shark in three years, which is bound to make other members further question their chosen activity. Another club member, Steve Bruemmer, was attacked and left with severe leg injuries in June 2022, after which many members began wearing shark bands while out swimming.

Previously: Family Says Woman's Body Found Near Santa Cruz Is That of Missing Swimmer Possibly Killed By Shark