Beloved professor and kayaker who knew route ‘like the back of his hand' vanishes in San Diego

Independent

18-02-2025

An experienced kayaker, pastor, professor, father and husband, who knew the waterways around San Diego 'like the back of his hand,' has vanished in the Pacific Ocean.
Daniel Marron, a professor of psychology, from Yuma, Arizona, set off on Valentine's Day for a 'typical paddle' on an outrigger kayak but failed to return home, his family has said.
Alarm bells were raised Friday when Marron's brand-new OC1 kayak was found washed up and broken in two close to a jetty, close to the entrance channel of Mission Bay, according to his wife.
'He paddled this route, this was like the back of his hand, he did this my daughter's whole life', according to his wife Dr. Eryka Arizaga, who works alongside her husband at Arizona Western College. In addition to his academic work, Marron was also a youth ministry pastor.
'His canoe washed up broken, along his ama was also found in the ocean about 500 feet from that wreckage. We are looking for those three items for Danny, first and foremost, and his paddle and his waterproof pouch with his phone', she told Fox5SanDiego Monday.
The missing kayaker had competed as an outrigger paddler in races that involved crossing the Catalina Channel and paddling from Molokai to Maui, in Hawaii.
The couple's nine-year-old daughter, Luna, was his racing partner.
'Pretty pink boat and she loved it, and he got stickers made that said 'Luna girl,'
'And on the ama, she got a sticker that said 'Ma'ama' for me so I could be with them when they paddle, and they had a really great time on that race,' Dr. Arizaga added.
However, search efforts have been suspended after rescuers grappled with extreme conditions including a ten-foot surf.
A local surfer who goes by the moniker Wolfie, 40, had been down at Mission Beach the morning Marron set off. Describing conditions on the day, he shared with NBC San Diego that the water had been calm when he went out at around 11:45 a.m. but said that things took a harrowing turn out on the waves.
'All of a sudden, within two to three, it was well overhead, double overhead. From, say, maybe three foot to, like, eight foot', he told the outlet.
It was at this point that Wolfie retreated as the surf and brutal winds made conditions extremely dangerous – a state that would have been deadly for anyone already out in it.
'It just puts everything in perspective, that you're dealing with the ocean.
'You're dealing with Mother Nature,' Wolfie added.
A fundraiser page on the missing father's behalf has been set up while officials anxiously consider how to continue with the search.
'The most important thing is that he was a great dad', his wife added to Fox5.
The California Paddling group has also shared a poster on the family's behalf and shared a heartfelt message Sunday: 'To Danny's family, the paddling community stands at the ready to support you if there is more we can do.'
San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Rick Strobel told Fox5: 'What the lifeguards were doing out there on the oceanfront in extreme conditions, they were going on to remote beaches, they were going into caves looking in all nooks and crannies, doing everything they could to try to find Danny.'