Parents And Teenage Boy Die After Being Swept To Sea Trying To Save Family Dog

By Debbie Emery - RadarOnline.com Reporter

A family's love for their dog ended in tragedy when a teenager and his parents got swept to their deaths in the Pacific Ocean trying to save their pet.

The poor pooch had been overwhelmed by huge 10-foot waves while playing stick on the sand at Big Lagoon beach, about 30 miles north of Eureka, Calif., on Saturday, reported ABCNews.com.

"The beach is incredibly steep, and we had 10 foot swells... come through there Saturday, and it is really really steep, so the 10 foot waves smashes directly on the beach. They were throwing a stick for the dog, and the dog ran too close to the water and got pulled in," explained Coast Guard Lt. Bernie Garrigan.

Upon seeing his beloved dog caught up in the mammoth waves, 16-year-old Gregory James Kuljian ran in to save him but quickly got caught up himself. His parents, Mary Elena Scott, 57, and Howard Gregory Kuljian, 54, followed to rescue their son, and sadly all three were swept out to sea.

Miraculously the dog managed to find its way back to shore and survived, as did the couple's 18-year-old daughter, Olivia, who did not enter the water.

The Coast Guard quickly responded and sent a helicopter and two rescue boats to scour the water - the bodies of the parents washed up on shore later in the day and the search for the teen, nicknamed Geddie, was suspended on Sunday because the extreme temperatures of the water means that a person could not survive for long without a wetsuit.

"The Coast Guard gives our condolences to the family. We have done and are doing all we can," lamented Garrigan.

Friends of the lost teenage boy have started a Facebook page, Wear Green for Geddie, in which they ask their schoolmates to "wear green to school in remembrance of Geddie and his parents. It was his favorite color…"

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