(KRON) -- A woman who disappeared while swimming near Lovers Point in Pacific Grove is being remembered as a strong athlete who passionately cherished the ocean. The swimmer, identified by officials as 55-year-old Erica Fox, may have been killed by a shark on Sunday afternoon. "She developed a de eply intimate relationship with the Pacific Ocean not by studying it or by looking at it, but by getting into it -- again and again and again, on choppy days and gloriously calm days, logging what I can only guess are thousands of miles," wrote Fox's friend, Monterey County Weekly reporter Sara Rubin. U.S. Coast Guard officials told KRON4 that they received a report of a possible shark attack Sunday. Two witnesses said the swimmer "may have encountered a shark." A large search and rescue team was not able to find Fox after she vanished, nor locate evidence to confirm that a shark was involved, according to the USCG. Fox held a "sincere passion" for ocean swimming, Rubin wrote. The triathlete shared her love of the Monterey Bay by co-founding a local swimming group, the Kelp Krawlers, two decades ago. Fox was swimming with her group on Sunday, according to friends. But on December 21, she never made it back to shore, and a witness reported seeing a shark off Lovers Point. Rubin was swimming with the group when Fox went missing. The reporter described ocean conditions as "a beautiful day in the water. There were about 15 of us, swimming around the rocky promontory of Lovers Point and into Otter Cove to the west, then back. Like the other swimmers, I was unaware that a tragedy was happening, with only the sounds of my own strokes splashing. A harbor seal swam under me." Signs block off access to Lovers Point Beach. (KRON4 photo / Justin Campbell) Fox understood the risks of swimming in waters that are home to great white sharks, friends said. A search effort conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard, Pacific Grove Police Department, and Monterey Fire Department was suspended Monday afternoon with no signs of Fox. "While coordinated search operations have concluded, detectives will continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance," said Pacific Grove Police Department Commander Brian Anderson. "We remain committed to determining what happened." Monterey Fire Chief Andrew Miller said, "This is a deeply felt tragedy for our community. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to Erica's family and loved ones." Divers enter the ocean on Dec. 23, 2025. (Photo courtesy MCSO) A Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team went to Lovers Point Tuesday using sonar sea floor mapping and an autonomous underwater vehicle to scan underwater. Divers dove in several areas identified by the equipment, but were still unable to find Fox, MCSO said. In 2022, a great white shark bit a local swimmer near Lovers Point. The gravely-injured swimmer was screaming in a pool of his own blood before three good Samaritans -- one surfer and two standup paddleboarders -- managed to paddle him back to the beach. Paramedics applied tourniquets to prevent further blood loss, and he later recovered in a hospital. ...read more read less