Monday marked day three of the search for an 8-year-old boy who beach officials said disappeared into the ocean at New Smyrna Beach.

  • Boy, 8, disappears in ocean off New Smyrna Beach
  • He was with his family when he was swept under the water
  • Officials have been searching since Saturday

Volusia Beach Safety said crews are still out searching the surf, scanning water between Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach to search for the boy.

“I can’t imagine, at all. My heart absolutely breaks," said Elizabeth Paulsgrove, who has lived in New Smyrna Beach for the last three years with her family. “I just feel like we, as a community, can help them.”

Paulsgrove instinctively knew she had to do something. Monday morning, she reached out to her church's pastor to see if she could put an all-call out to members of her church, Atlantic Coast Church. Hours after drafting a post, she spoke with the family of the missing boy, asking how her church could be of assistance.

“I just said that my family would like to help, whether it be hotel expense or reaching out to get some of the local restaurants," she said of an initial conversation with Volusia County Beach Ocean Safety Rescue, who connected Paulsgrove with the mother of the child.

It was Saturday afternoon when the 8-year-old boy disappeared into the surf south of Flagler Avenue -- between two lifeguard stands -- in New Smyrna Beach, according to Volusia County Beach Ocean Safety Rescue.

Bridget Senfield, who is visiting from New York, is still shaken up after watching the search for the Orange County boy alongside her own children.

"I came back in because the waves — you couldn't even catch a wave. It was just dangerous, I could feel it, and I told my kids today's not a good day," Senfield said.

The boy's 11-year-old sister was later rushed to the hospital after injuring herself in the surf. She is reportedly now doing fine.

"So many people on the beach wanted to know what happened, what could we do," said Senfield.

Helicopters, Coast Guards and lifeguards have maintained the search ever since the incident. Crews returned to the beach at sunrise Sunday after they couldn't find the boy Saturday night, and repeated the process Monday.

"We saw the mom there and just look like she was in shock, it was just very upsetting, just an all around upsetting situation," Senfield said.

"It's a rip current issue right now. We've got really bad surf, the surf is bad it gives you a lot of foam, a lot of white water where it's not easy to swim through that stuff," said Liz Driskell, who serves as deputy chief of beach safety.

Driskell said the current also makes it hard to search.

“I spent a lot of time in the water and it was very rough. I couldn’t stay out there, it was just throwing me around," said beachgoer Peter Moscatelli, visiting from Massachusetts.

Senfield is keeping an even closer eye on her three children and looking for the boy as well.

"It's scary out there,” she said. “It's fun, it's a lot of fun, but it's unbelievable how quickly that ocean can turn. My middle guy was up worried half the night kept saying I'm so worried about that little boy. He saw the sister get pulled in, he saw the mom, these kids they get it, prayers for the sister for the family and for everybody."

Others, like Paulsgrove, are turning to action. Her church, as well as another, have stepped up to aid the family.

"[It's important] that we help this family. We help them financially, through the power of prayer," she said. “Being in our local town and everything, I felt an overwhelming need to reach out.”

Beach Safety Officials said the water is still rough. They recommend that swimmers stay within waist deep water and that children stay with an adult.

Officials said if caught in a rip current, they recommend allowing the water to pull a swimmer out of the rip, relaxing and floating, before swimming to shore and calling for help.

If you'd like to assist the missing swimmer's family, please contact Volusia County Beach Ocean Safety Rescue, (386) 547-6812 or edriskell@volusia.org.