A couple days after a portion of the pier featured in The Lost Boys collapsed into the ocean, a scene reminiscent of Chinatown played out along the coast a few hundred miles south.
The same massive winter swells that sundered the wharf in Santa Cruz pushed ashore a portion of a severed human leg in Palos Verdes. The limb was discovered on Christmas Day. On Thursday, a second leg was found along the local shoreline.
Ironically, the grisly remains washed up just a couple miles north of where Roman Polanski filmed Jack Nicholson’s Jake Gittes discovering that precious water is being dumped into the ocean in Chinatown. It’s also just block from the location of the building that stood in for the estate of water overlord Noah Cross, played by John Huston in the film.
Authorities are now working to determine any potential connection between the remains and two men who went missing early Tuesday while fishing in rough surf off the shoreline.
The first limb was found around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday in roughly the same spot where the mens’ boat capsized.
Around 1 p.m. Thursday, authorities searching the area found a second leg, according to Aaron Belda of the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department.
While unconfirmed, a human femur was also reported discovered, according to Belda.
The search efforts on Thursday had concluded as of 3:45 p.m.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner will investigate the remains to assess its possible connection to the missing boaters.
The Coast Guard was notified just after 5 a.m. Tuesday that the boat was overdue, Lt. Sondra Kneen told City News Service. The men had been scheduled to arrive near Cabrillo Marina but never turned up.
Tuesday’s search effort began at first light and included a helicopter, which arrived at the scene at 8:30 a.m. Other agencies were using drones to search the water, Kneen said.
The fishermen, described as two men in their 50s, launched from Cabrillo Beach on Monday and were supposed to return by midnight, KTLA5 reported.
Crews from the Los Angeles County Fire Department began a search at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and found a boat up against the rocks near the 1800 block of Paseo Del Mar, but the men remained missing, the fire department said.
The search resumed Wednesday morning. However, in an update at 1:41 p.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard announced the search was called off due to “no signs of distress” and “no response to UMIB (Urgent Marine Information Broadcast).”
Authorities had warned the public to stay out of the water at Southland beaches Tuesday and Wednesday due to large waves and dangerous rip currents. A high surf advisory was issued by the National Weather Service that continued until 9 p.m. Wednesday for Los Angeles County beaches.
Forecasters said “large breaking waves” of 8 to 13 feet impacted west-facing beaches Tuesday morning. That would have been especially true for Lunada Bay in Palos Verdes, which funnels in especially large swells.
City News Service contributed to this report.