A new autopsy report has confirmed that a single, severe shark bite was fatal for ocean swimmer Erica Fox, whose body was discovered on a California beach in December 2025. The report, first detailed by California's Monterey Herald newspaper, states that 55-year-old Fox drowned after the shark bite broke her pelvis and severed a major artery.
Fox had departed Lovers Point near Monterey, California, on 21 December with a group of a dozen swimmers but did not return to shore. Her remains were found on 27 December on a beach north-west of Santa Cruz by California firefighters assisting in the search.
The autopsy report, released on 29 July, established that Fox died from "sharp and blunt force injuries and submersion in water due to a shark attack." The fatal injury reportedly encircled her right knee, thighs, and abdomen, tearing her wetsuit and swimsuit.
Fox, a co-founder of Monterey's Kelp Krawlers open-water swimming club, was with the group at the time of her death. She was one of 12 people globally who died from shark bites in 2025, and the only such fatality recorded in the US, according to University of Florida researchers.