Search for missing teen is called off

After five days combing the Laguna Beach coastline, authorities called off the active search Thursday afternoon for an 18-year-old Las Vegas resident believed to have been swept into the ocean by a large wave last Sunday.

Anthony Parnell, a senior at Centennial High School, was reported missing about 1:30 p.m. Sunday from a rocky area south of Thousand Steps Beach.

“We’ve looked everywhere we can, including under the rocks,” Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said. “It’s more of a recovery effort at this point.”

Orange County lifeguards led the search and were assisted by Laguna Beach police, fire and marine safety departments, the Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Parnell’s mother Jennifer said she received a call at home saying her son was missing about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

She described her son as “passionate,” one who loves football and cooking and who planned on joining the U.S. Army.

“He likes to swim, but he is afraid of fish,” Jennifer Parnell said Monday as she stood on the beach. “He is a likable kid, respectful, and comes from a good family who loves him very much.”

When asked what her son was doing in another state, she replied: “That’s a damn good question.”

The teen and three friends were walking along a rocky outcropping south of Thousand Steps Beach when a wave pulled him and a 17-year-old girl into the surf, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

Friends pulled the girl out, but Anthony Parnell disappeared, Concialdi said, adding, “We believe he went into a crevice.”

“This is extremely rocky coastline and a dangerous section,” Concialdi said earlier in the week. “All it takes is one [strong wave] and these jagged rocks.” Swells averaged 5 to 8 feet Sunday, he added.

Jennifer Parnell praised the agencies’ efforts to find her son.

“Every person here, from police and fire, have been great,” she said.