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Victims identified in Half Moon Bay drowning
A 5-year-old girl who died after being rescued at sea has been identified along with her grandfather, who is still missing off the Half Moon Bay coast.
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - A 5-year-old girl, who died after being swept into the waters off the coast of Half Moon Bay along with her grandfather, had recently celebrated her birthday, according to relatives.
The young girl was identified as Yaretzi Noemi Biorato-Navarrete of Merced by her cousin, Daniela Velazquez. The family said the name provided by the San Mateo County Coronor yesterday was incorrect.
Yaretzi, accompanied by her older brother and grandparents, were spending their Saturday at Martins Beach. According to Velazquez, the family was walking along the shoreline when waves pulled Yaretzi into the water. Yaretzi's grandfather, 54-year-old Pascal Micheletto Soriano, went in after the girl and tried to save her, but he never resurfaced.
San Mateo County firefighters were able to rescue the young girl, but she died at the hospital, officials said.
Yaretzi's grandmother and brother were also overcome by the waves but managed to escape, Velazquez said.
Yaretzi Noemi Biorato-Navarrete, 5,pictured right and her grandfather Pascal Soriano, 54, photographed to the left.
The cousin shared that Yaretzi spent every other weekend with her grandparents, who often took her on outings, like this trip to the beach. With her recent birthday on Nov. 21 and the holiday, the family considered this beach outing special.
"Almost positive her grandparents wanted to do something special for her when they went to the beach," said Velazquez.
The National Weather Service had cautioned that the area could experience aggressive sneaker waves.
"None of us were aware of the warnings that day for the ocean," explained Velazquez, who is heartbroken at the tragedy, but left with fond memories of Yaretzi.
"She was just so full of life," said Valazquez as she reminisced on Yaretzi's recent at-home birthday party, where the family celebrated with cake and one of the girl's birthday wishes came true.
"She was just so happy her parents got her a tablet for her birthday," the woman shared.
Yaretzi was the only daughter of her mother, Yesenia Velazquez.
U.S. Coast Guard crews tried to find the girl's grandfather for about 22 hours over 100 square miles before suspending their search.
"We know he (Soriano) is gone, but we would like to recover his body, so we can give him a proper funeral," stated Daniela Velazquez.
A GoFundMe page was created to help the family of Yaretzi and Soriano as the reel from the unimaginable tragedy.