Bodyboarder killed in California fatal shark attack

Thomas Butterfield was killed in a shark attack off the California coast.

Butterfield, 42, was visiting his mother in Morro Bay for Christmas when he decided to go to Morro Strand State Beach Dec. 24.

The avid golfer and fisherman wore a wetsuit and fins, and used a bright blue boogieboard as he hit the waves just north of Morro Rock.

Rebecca Frimmer was surfing that day even though she thought conditions were horrible. She was in a spot called The Pit around 10:40 a.m. when she spotted a boogieboard floating in the water.

“As the wave broke and the tide was pushing the board further in, it was snapping back and so I thought there was something attached to it. My hope was that if somebody was drowning, I could help them or if it was trash, I could just pull it out of the water,” Frimmer told KSBY.

She paddled to the board and began pulling it to the shallows.

“I paddled and I pulled until I could put my feet down and then I was able to pull the board closer to me and I saw his feet and flippers and began to pull him in, thinking I might do CPR on top of my board, but it was clear that it was way too late once I saw the extent of his injuries and he had already passed,” Frimmer said.

She alerted beachgoers who called emergency personnel. Although emergency personnel responded, there was nothing they could do.

After being unable to reach Thomas by phone, his brother Ben and mother Maria went to the beach to look for him and found he had passed.

The beach was closed for 24 hours and Enter at Your Own Risk signs were placed and left over the weekend.

Family members said they were thankful Frimmer pulled in Thomas’ body as at least they could have some peace in knowing what happened.

First responders indicated the bite appeared to be from a white shark. The San Luis Obispo County Sherriff-Coroner is performing an autopsy and has not yet released information about the incident.