This featured week’s featured missing person case is Wayne Jason Ausa, a 16-year-old Filipino-American boy who disappeared from San Francisco, California on April 16, 2016.
We know exactly what happened to Wayne: he and another boy, Grisham Duran, were walking in the San Francisco surf with friends when the current grabbed the boys and carried Wayne and Grisham out to sea. The surf there can be horribly dangerous and this is not the only such case I have on Charley.
The casefile doesn’t say anything about Grisham’s remains being located and I can’t find any news articles to that effect but they must have been, because Wayne is still listed in the CDOJ missing persons database and Grisham is not.
If you wonder why I would bother to put Wayne on Charley when his fate is known and we know, more or less, what happened to his remains… the ocean might still give up its dead. Wayne may wash up on shore some day and if he does, someone has to be able to know that a boy matching that description is still unaccounted for, so that they can identify his remains. This happened in the case of Percy Carson, a drowned swimmer whose bones washed ashore months later and weren’t identified for over 20 years.
Wayne was a junior at Vallejo High School. If he were still alive today he’d be 23, perhaps a college graduate, perhaps a husband or father by now. The ocean took his future away.
I hope everyone is doing ok. I have been sick (the vomiting cycle again, they won’t quit) but hope to feel better soon and back to work.
The Charley Project Blog 
Thanks for sharing I hadn’t heard of these young men before! So very sad.
I have a similar case out of Oregon where, during a beach outing involving a family of four, the dog was taken by the surf. Dad went in after the dog. Mom went in after Dad. Son went in after them both. The sister was nearly pulled out as well and had to be rescued by a multiple bystanders who clawed her back to land.
The dog made it to shore alive. The boy was never found. The community did a fundraiser for the only survivor, his sister.
I’d not heard that one either but I’m glad the girl had her dog at least how awful. My best friend and I went to Maui and there was a tide warning there, there were red flags on the beach but I just thought they meant red tide not rogue waves well I was just sunbathing and when one got me and pulled me into the ocean I was 26 about and my best friend thought I was a goner mortified as I was rolling on the sand underwater I said don’t fight it just go with it and hold breath! It was painful but finally the wave spit me out about half block from the shore I was basically rug burned on my elbows and back so I am totally aware how awful the tide can be and waves. That was the same trip my bf forever sunburned her feet so bad they blistered but thankfulness we both lived to tell the tale. Kiss you dog and the cats for me. Mine are all doing good Halo is 13 in March so he’s moving slow but his mind is still like a 2 year old and he steals my shoes still.
My new dog Patrick and I are seeing a trainer. He and the cats are… a work in progress.
Good luck cats can be tricky but they have had a dog person before I know it will work out! I’m so grateful you rescued him..
That’s awful. Reminds me of the sad case of Troy Le (I’ve spoke of him on the blog a while back). His girlfriend got caught in a tide, he tried to save her, he likely drowned and hasn’t been seen since and she herself nearly drowned and was badly injured, but eventually recovered. She had spoken to a magazine about the ordeal (I think Cosmopolitan, if I’m not mistaken) and how she dealt with everything and how his family and friends all blamed her. It’s a really sad story all around.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/27769 and https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/97260 I wonder if they are related?