CLEVELAND — The two missing swimmers at Huntington Beach are siblings who were standing in waist-deep water when they were swept away by a rip current, according to their mother.
Tanya Labbe told News 5 that her sons, Trent Sanchez, 19, and Austin Labbe, 22, were familiar with the beach. They were visiting the waterfront with family members when their siblings, who were nearby, witnessed the two go under around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Labbe said there were no warnings for the beach before their arrival, not even on the Cleveland Metroparks website, which she checked.
"They did not do anything to warn us. There were no lifeguards, which I understand is out of duty. But they still didn't even put the weather condition flags," Labbe said.
The Labbe family is from New Franklin, and the missing men live in Stow, according to Tanya.
Metroparks Police are leading what is now a recovery effort that began as a Coast Guard search and rescue Sunday evening.
One of the men's brothers, who was with them at the beach, witnessed the event. The brother did not disclose his name.
"It was no way of making it out, I was in total shock. It was hard to move, to watch, hearing the cries," he said.
According to the Coast Guard, it received a call that two people were swept out into Lake Erie in a rip current.
Cleveland Metroparks Police Chief Kelly Stillman said the two went underwater and resurfaced briefly before going back under.
Monday's search was called off due to weather conditions.
"The search today has been called off due to weather conditions and will resume again tomorrow morning," Stillman said. "In the early morning hours, we had multiple units from multiple jurisdictions engaged in this effort. Every resource available was called into action."
News 5 crews on the scene Sunday saw a significant first-responder response.
The beach was closed on Sunday and Monday.
