Lifeguards searching for former WWE star Shad Gaspard missing off Venice Beach coast, source says

VENICE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Officials resumed their search Monday morning for former WWE wrestling star Shad Gaspard who went missing off the coast of Venice Beach over the weekend, a source confirmed to Eyewitness News.

Los Angeles County lifeguards raced to the waters Sunday after several swimmers got caught in strong rip currents and rescued a 10-year-old boy, who is believed to be Gaspard's son.

Siliana Gaspard, the 39-year-old's wife, posted on Instagram that her husband has been missing since Sunday. On Monday, she posted two photos of her husband next to a child, saying he was last seen at Marina Del Rey beach.

The boy was pulled from the water Sunday and was in good shape. He was not hospitalized.

A 10-year-old child was rescued from the waters off the coast of Venice Beach while the search for his father was conducted, officials said Sunday, May 17.

"That group was stuck in one of the rip currents and were swimming just north of the lifeguard tower," said Pono Barnes, an ocean lifeguard specialist with the L.A. Fire Department. "That's why lifeguards were able to get there so soon, but unfortunately, one did, however, submerge."

"Subsurface searches" for the man were suspended by county lifeguards just before sundown but picked back up again Monday morning.

The incident happened on a day when officials say the surf and the weather created challenging conditions.

"That surf that we have paired with a little bit of wind and good tidal swing today made rip currents a little bit more prevalent and a little bit stronger," Barnes said.