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Two police officers patrolling the beach Monday in an SUV ran over and killed a sunbather, who was in California to attend her son's wedding, authorities said.
The officers in the patrol vehicle did not immediately realize they ran over the woman and continued driving, police Cmdr. Tom Chronister said in a statement.
A witness called the Oxnard Fire Department to report the woman was bleeding on the beach just south of the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort.
Cindy Conolly, 49, of Sioux City, Iowa, was staying at the hotel with her fiance and several other family members, said Mike Feiler, senior deputy medical examiner in the Ventura County coroner's office. Feiler, who met with family members at the hotel, said they were all in town for the wedding.
"Obviously, they're devastated," Feiler said.
The officers, who were not immediately identified, had stopped on a small berm of sand to observe a swimmer whom they thought was in distress. When they saw the swimmer was fine, they drove over the berm and apparently ran over the woman's head as she was lying about a foot from the berm's downward slope, authorities said.
"Given the soft nature of the sand and the size of the vehicle, it would have been easy for them to not sense that they had ran over something," Feiler said, adding the officers likely couldn't see Conolly at the bottom of the berm.
An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. The officers have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation into the incident.
Feiler said Conolly's fiance left her at the beach and had been expecting to meet her back at the hotel at a specific time. "When she didn't show up, he became concerned and inquired the hotel staff, that's when they told him about the accident," Feiler said.
Police shut down a stretch of the beach to investigate. Oxnard is located about 55 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
It's sad, but kinda funny in a really fucked up way
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