Boy who died in Bodega Bay dune collapse identified

The 10-year-old boy who died Sunday afternoon in the collapse of a cave he was digging in a sand dune near Bodega Bay has been identified as Jonathon Andrew Waldrup of Tucson, Ariz.

He was buried 6 to 8 feet inside when the tunnel collapsed, undermining a 40- to 50-foot-tall cypress tree that fell and trapped him.

His cousin, who had also been digging, was partially buried but escaped.

It took rescue crews digging with shovels about an hour to reach the boy, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident happened about 3:30 p.m. north of the parking lot at Salmon Creek Beach, which was crowded with visitors for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Waldrup's parents were nearby and saw the collapse, said Heidi Horvitz, public safety superintendent for the State Parks' Russian River District.

"No one realizes the danger until something horrid happens," she said Monday.

There was already a small cave in the sand dune and the boys were enlarging it with shovels, she said.

The safety hazard has been addressed and the fallen tree will be removed, Horvitz said.

The boy's family had been renting a vacation house in the Bodega Bay area. Family members and other bystanders tried frantically to dig the boy out before the Bodega Bay, Valley Ford and Gold Ridge fire departments, State Parks personnel, CHP, state Fish and Game and sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene.

You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.