Friend Mourns Man Who Likely Drowned At Stinson Beach

MILL VALLEY, CA – It was supposed to be a fun day at the beach, but "it only takes a minute to drown."

Most of Tuesday afternoon was glorious as Justina Kane and her boyfriend, Tony Carnill Foster, Jr., were in and out of the water boogie-boarding at Stinson Beach in Marin County, a popular family destination.

"We got back into the water for our last go around 6 p.m.," said Kane of Mill Valley. "The tides were starting to come in, which is perfect waves for boogie-boarding because they are strong enough push you back to shore. However, we learned the hard way, they can also pull you out to sea."

Foster, 34 of Marin City, was reported missing that evening about 6:40 p.m. after he was swept out to sea in a riptide, Kane said, and his body was recovered at the shoreline by lifeguards the following morning, according to county officials.

Kane is emphatic that the vibrant, beloved Foster should not be remembered as "just another dead body," while also wanting to warn all beach-goers "that as fun as the ocean is, we cannot underestimate this incident."

"Everyone knew Tone, and everyone loved him. ... Let’s use this story to warn others of the dangers, yet not scare them from enjoying the beautiful sea and playing in the waves. ... It only takes a minute to drown."

Foster, a graduate of Tamalpais High School and the father of a 9-year-old daughter, worked at a boxing gym and in the construction field, and "was a strong and genuinely, kind-hearted person, who was a very well-known, loved and respected member of the Marin City community," she said.

While it could be presumed Foster died by drowning, the Marin County Coroner's Office has scheduled a post-mortem examination Friday to determine the official cause of death.

Particularly painfully poignant to Kane, a lifelong swimmer who has rescue-training experience, is her vivid memory of the incident as she was standing on her tippy-toes in the water and sharing a boogie-board with Foster, then spotted the "perfect wave" coming in and handed the board to her boyfriend.

"He was holding onto that board looking at me, smiling, so excited to catch the wave," she recalled. "But it sucked him back so fast, just pulled him right past me and over that big wave, which crashed over me. I popped up, out of breath and farther from the shore than I was before.

"A wave came, and I saw the board get knocked out of his hands (as) he was about a car length away from me ... slightly more ... and in water that he couldn’t stand in.

"He had nothing to hold on to, so he was treading water and yelling for help."

A nearby boarder in the water heard Foster's cries and attempted, to no avail, to rescue the man.

Kane and the other boogie-boarder's girlfriend ran down the beach waving arms and screaming for lifeguard help, but rescuers were too far away, it was too late, and Foster went under, she said.

After he went missing, a multiple-agency search with helicopters, watercraft and rescue swimmers began that lasted for hours until dark with assistance from the California Highway Patrol, U.S. Park rangers and lifeguards, the Stinson Beach Volunteer and the Marin County fire departments, U.S. Coast Guard and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, Marin County Sheriff's deputies said.

"I knew as soon as he went under and as time kept passing, it was too late," Kane said.

The woman did not disparage the rescuers or their hours-long attempt to find her boyfriend, but did say she wished there were more lifeguards and towers, and posted signs warning swimmers of riptides, how to escape them and what tides made them the strongest.

"(Tony) panicked and used too much energy trying to tread water and yell for help instead of relax and float and swim sideways out of the riptide," she said.

• (Read more here on dealing with riptides and rip currents).

Kane reported she was at Stinson Beach the day before, on Monday, when a youngster was struggling in the ocean, and a person who attempted to help the child also was swept out. "Luckily they were right in-front of the lifeguard station. ... The lifeguards were able to make it to them in time and get them back to shore before they went under."

Water-related deaths and accidents skyrocket during summer months in the region and throughout California.

Foster was one of at least four Bay Area residents who perished in boating and swimming incidents this week, as multitudes flocked to beaches and lakes to cool off during the recent heat wave.

Among those who lost their lives were a 14-year-old boy, Berekteab Yohannes, who drowned Monday kicking off summer break and swimming with friends at San Francisco's Crissy Field Beach, a 23-year-old jockey, Shawn Spikes Jr., well-known in the West Coast horse-racing community, who drowned Tuesday while boating at Lake Del Valle in Livermore, and 31-year-old, Los Gatos resident Florencio Rodriguez Pureco, who died after falling overboard from a boat at Del Valle.

"God always takes the best people up to heaven, just wish he had given Tone more time to accomplish all the things he wanted," Kane added, regarding her boyfriend's unexpected demise. "He has a daughter who is 9 years old, and I hope that this doesn’t scare her away from the ocean forever because there are ways to safely enjoy the sea on a sunny, hot day."

• ALSO SEE: Star Athlete & 'Bright Light' Was Victim In Marin-Area Car Crash