SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The family of a teen who was never found after he was swept away in the waters off Mission Beach filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of San Diego and others.
In the suit filed Wednesday, the family of Woodlain Zachee accuses the city of negligence and wrongful death, as well as “dangerous condition of public property.”
On June 14, 2022, Zachee was swimming with a group of friends at Mission Beach when San Diego Fire-Rescue officials said he began struggling in the water.
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According to SDFD, two of Zachee’s friends were rescued, but the 18-year-old submerged and “did not resurface.”
Zachee was never found after a search that lasted several days.
The family, according to the lawsuit filing, claims: “On that day, lifeguards and other employees of Defendant City of San Diego were aware of a rip current in the vicinity of Lifeguard Tower 16. However, Defendants took no measures to warn the public about this rip current.”
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The family added: “While swimming, Decedent was approached by a lifeguard on a jet ski who instructed him to swim toward Tower 16. Decedent, unaware of the presence of the rip current, obeyed the lifeguard’s instruction. In doing so, he swam straight into the dangerous rip current, and was pulled farther out into ocean and began to drown. Decedent disappeared beneath the waves and drowned.”
Zachee graduated from Crawford High School just days before the beach outing with his friends.
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ABC 10News reached out to the city regarding the lawsuit, but they did not respond as of the publication of this story.
