SANTA MONICA—The search for a missing swimmer near the Santa Monica Pier has been suspended.

The swimmer was reported last seen about 3:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 13. Harbor Patrol officers responded to a report of a swimmer in distress near the pier and found a person hanging over the railing “looking at someone in the water,” according to Captain Brian Jordan of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Rescue boats, a helicopter, remote-operated drones and emergency crews were all deployed in an effort to find the missing swimmer. Crews from the Santa Monica Police Department, Coast Guard, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and county lifeguards were all searching the surrounding area of the pier, Jordan indicated.

According to Jordan, the waters underneath the Santa Monica pier are very dangerous. There are barnacles on the pillars that support the pier that are very sharp and can cut a swimmer’s skin open and the current can be strong pulling swimmer’s out to the open sea.

The swimmer has not been found and the search has since been suspended. No further details of the situation were immediately available.

Anyone with any information involving the missing swimmer is asked to call the Coast Guard at (310) 521-3815.