Anthony Goode’s sister returned to the deadly stretch of shoreline where he drowned and streamed raw grief to the world.
Verline Celestine stood near Lifeguard Tower 42 at Playa del Rey and filmed the churning Pacific Ocean that claimed her brother’s life Sunday morning. Goode, caught in powerful surf he had no ability to navigate, died at the scene despite desperate CPR efforts by Los Angeles County lifeguards.
Celestine’s disbelief poured out as she panned across the violent waves. “This is where my brother drowned at. Look how rough this water is going and he know he couldn’t swim. I can’t believe Anthony went and got in this water,” she said in the footage she shared.
The Los Angeles Fire Department had responded at 8:18 a.m. To the 6900 block of Pacific Avenue after reports of a swimmer in distress. Crews arrived to find lifeguards already attempting to revive Goode after pulling him from the water. Fire officials confirmed he was pronounced dead at the scene, and authorities said no foul play was suspected.
Celestine also documented a makeshift memorial on the sand where mourners had written Goode’s name, surrounded by hand-drawn hearts and candles.
“Rest N Paradise Brother you are at Pieces Brother. Yo Sister Love you dearly. I wasn’t ready Anthony Goode,” she wrote in her tribute post accompanying the memorial photo.
The tragedy struck as Southern California’s coastline absorbed the dangerous remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel, which generated massive surf across the region. In Long Beach, treacherous waves ripped through wooden slats along the historic waterfront boardwalk, sending seawater surging through the damaged structure ahead of Saturday night’s high tide. Officials scrambled to protect vulnerable areas as the walkway became inaccessible, marked with “No trespassing” signs by Saturday evening.
Mayor Rex Richardson announced that eight structures along the city’s Peninsula were red-tagged as unsafe to enter, while another received a yellow tag allowing residents limited access to retrieve belongings.
The storm’s destruction extended inland. In the Inland Empire, dramatic footage captured a structure being ripped from the ground by ferocious winds as two people desperately struggled to keep it from blowing away.
For Goode’s family, the weekend’s weather chaos narrowed to a single devastating loss. Celestine’s live video now marks the stretch of sand where her brother’s final moments unfolded, her voice giving permanent witness to a death that might otherwise have passed as an anonymous statistic in a storm-battered week.
