After Boy Swept Out to Sea, Family Offers $50K Reward

The Coast Guard has given up the search for a 12-year-old boy who was swept out to sea earlier this week, but his family is now offering a $50,000 reward for anyone who can find Arunay Pruthi, reports People. The Fremont boy was at Cowell Ranch State Beach on Monday afternoon with his father and younger brother when a "sneaker" wave caught them by surprise near the surf and pulled them into the water, reports KTVU. His father and brother were able to make it back to shore, but not Arunay, who apparently got caught in a rip current. “It was just very big waves, I guess," the boy's father, Tarun, tells KPIX. "We didn’t expect it. ... It threw me around for a while. I just managed to barely make it.”

The Coast Guard searched through Monday night but called off the operation the following morning. “The Coast Guard’s object when it searches is for a rescue,” says USCG Capt. Howard Wright. “When we’re no longer confident that we’re able to rescue a victim alive, we will suspend the search.” Friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help in the private search, and it had raised more than $180,000 as of Friday afternoon. People were scouring beaches on foot and by drone, and a private helicopter was making sweeps of the water. (In Florida, the story of this missing swimmer had a happy ending.)