Describing her son’s death as a “freak accident,” Jennifer Parnell said she still harbored hope that her son remained alive up until his body was pulled from the sea this past Wednesday.
A large wave swept 18-year-old Anthony Parnell into the ocean 11 days earlier from Thousand Steps Beach in South Laguna. The teen and three friends, all seniors from Centennial High School in Las Vegas, had clambered over a rock ledge at the far end of the cove during large surf on Sunday, Feb. 8.
“It says ‘no trespassing’ for a reason,” said Parnell in an interview Thursday, describing signage in the area and acknowledging her son’s lack of awareness about the danger from high surf. Her advice to parents: “Love your children.”
Parnell, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, said she had last visited Laguna Beach in 2003 when she wed her husband, Foster Parnell, near Las Brisas restaurant. The entire family, which includes five siblings, returned for the first time since then, and spent much of last week watching the recovery efforts by lifeguards from the sand.
The teen who loved football intended to follow in the footsteps of two brothers, who both served in the military. He had enlisted in the Army and was to start after his graduation, on June 26, his mother said.
After searching the area for days by air, on land and from a watercraft, OC Lifeguards suspended recovery efforts last Thursday after calmer seas allowed the deployment of divers. A thorough search of the rock outcroppings around Thousand Steps turned up no clues, Capt. Jason Young said last week.
Laguna Beach police Sgt. Tim Kleiser said Wednesday a Three Arch Bay resident on South La Senda Drive called authorities about 4 p.m. after spotting what looked like a body in an area identified as Shell Beach.
The grim find was taken aboard a sheriff’s Harbor Patrol boat and transported to the Dana Point Harbor. The county coroner’s office made a formal identification Thursday.
Parnell’s body was spotted about a half mile from the far end of Thousand Steps, where Parnell was last seen, Young said.
His mother said a service will be held for her son at Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 28.
