Search continues for missing swimmer

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- It’s tough for Don and Micki Huntress to even think

that their son Jason, who they say loved the ocean and spent most of his

life in the water, could drown.

But it seems more and more like a possibility every day as Sheriff’s

Harbor Patrol divers scour the waters in Emerald Bay near Laguna Beach,

where 33-year-old Huntress was last seen Wednesday afternoon.

On Friday, divers were out in their boats from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., said

Sgt. Donna Soto.

“We’ll look again tomorrow,” she said. “But it’s only a matter of time

before he will surface. We’ll look again tomorrow.”

The water was fairly clear Friday and the wind was minimal, all of

which helped divers to prolong the search, she said.

But the wait has been harrowing for the Newport Beach family, which is

waiting by the telephone to hear news -- any news.

Although Huntress has been living in Costa Mesa for the last year or

so, he has lived in Newport Beach practically his whole life, his mother

said.

He went to Mariner’s Elementary, graduated from Newport Harbor High

and played sports all through high school, his father said.

“He was a good guy,” said Don Huntress, choking up. “He was a junior

lifeguard in Huntington Beach, and he was quite a body surfer.”

Micki Huntress called her son happy-go-lucky and fun-loving with “lots

and lots and lots of friends.”

One of them, Chris Phillips, who was in Huntress’ junior lifeguard

class, said he was shocked.

“It’s unfathomable that he drowned,” he said.

Phillips said his friend was an electrician by profession, but his

true love was the beach.

He was good with the paint brush and palette too. A painting of a

scuba diver underwater with his arm around a shark still hangs in what

used to be Jason Huntress’ room. Also on the wall is a clay model of

Catalina against the backdrop of the sky and the ocean.

“He was a certified scuba diver himself,” his mother said. “You

wouldn’t expect anything could happen to him in the water.”