Man killed in Morro Bay shark attack identified by friends, family — he was ‘one of a kind’
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Morro Bay shark attack
An apparent great white shark killed a boogie-boarder in Morro Bay on Christmas Eve 2021. Here’s what we know:
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Friends and family members have identified the man killed in a Morro Bay shark attack on Christmas Eve as a Sacramento resident who loved the ocean, especially fishing and boogie-boarding.
Several Facebook posts and a family member who spoke to The Tribune identified Tomas Butterfield as the victim of the attack, which occurred about 10:40 a.m. on Friday in the water near The Pit area of Morro Strand State Beach, north of Morro Rock.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff-Coroner is conducting an autopsy and hasn’t yet released the victim’s name publicly, though next of kin has been notified. Officials have released few details about the incident.
After The Tribune published this story, State Parks confirmed the identity.
“State Parks can confirm that Friday’s shark attack victim was Tomas Butterfield, 42, from Sacramento. That’s all the information we currently have available,” Jorge Moreno, public information officer, told The Tribune.
Grant Butterfield, Tomas’ uncle, said in a phone conversation that he learned through the victim’s father, his brother Scott, of Sacramento, about what happened on the day of the incident.
Grant said that his nephew was living in the downtown Sacramento area and had been working for his father there.
Tomas was visiting his mother, Maria, in Morro Bay around Christmas when he went out boogie-boarding alone on the morning of Christmas Eve.
“My brother (Scott) called and I saw his name pop up on my screen, and I thought, ‘Oh, he’s just called to wish us Merry Christmas.’ But that wasn’t it,” Butterfield said of his nephew’s death. “I probably learned about (the fatal attack) eight hours after the fact.”
Butterfield said he hasn’t found out specifically what happened to Tomas in his final moments in the water.
Tomas’ brother, Ben Butterfield, of Sanger, with whom he was extremely close, had just arrived in Morro Bay for the family gathering, and with their mother, went searching for Tomas along the beach, Grant Butterfield said.
“From what I understand, Ben and Maria went down to the beach looking for him,” said Grant Butterfield. “They ended up going to The Pit there and seeing all of the emergency people and probably a gaggle of other people around on the beach and thought the worst, and it was the worst, obviously.”
A woman surfing saw Butterfield’s empty boogie board and then found him face down in the water, said Eric Endersby, Morro Bay Harbor director. The woman brought him to the beach, and Morro Bay Harbor Patrol responded to the incident with the city’s police and fire departments.
However, Butterfield was already dead by the time medical personnel reached him, Endersby said. The woman who found Butterfield did not see the shark attack, and no one has yet come forward to say they witnessed the encounter, he said.
The Harbor Patrol closed the waters within their jurisdiction for 24 hours, and a sign warning beachgoers to enter the water at their own risk will remain in place through the New Year’s holiday, Endersby said.
Uncle remembers ‘Tom’
Grant Butterfield said his nephew didn’t talk much, but once you got to know him, he’d warm up and had a subtle sense of humor.
“I don’t want to call him shy,” Grant said. “He was kind of a tough guy to get to know, but once you were his friend, you had him.”
Butterfield said that Scott and Maria divorced, and Maria moved multiple times during his childhood, living for part of his childhood in Ketchikan, Alaska, where Tomas attended high school.
“When my brother and his mom got divorced, there was a lot of moving around,” Grant Butterfield said. “His mother would go on vacation someplace and fall in love with the place and she’d end up moving there. So there was a lot of moving around. They ended up in Ketchikan, Alaska.”
Tomas, who was unmarried, recently had worked for his father at a medical laboratory equipment repair company in Sacramento.
Grant Butterfield said Tomas loved fishing, boogie-boarding, and golfing and remained close to his brother.
“They were kind of like opposites,” Grant Butterfield said. “Ben was the outgoing, high school quarterback kind of guy, which (Ben) was, by the way, in Ketchikan. Tomas was very quiet and had kind of a wry sense of humor. If you could get a full-throated laugh out of him, you were a winner.”
Grant added: “I’d see pictures (on social media) of Tom and Ben on the golf course someplace, wherever they were playing golf. Anytime Ben and Tom were together, doing something that was fishing or golf or whatever, I’d learn about what those boys were doing. ... I wouldn’t be surprised if they talked nearly every day.”
Grant said that he saw his nephew at family gatherings periodically during holidays but wasn’t in routine contact with him.
Tomas loved the ocean, and though he lived inland lately, he liked to visit and get out to the water when he could. Grant said he wasn’t sure if he surfed, but knew he was an avid boogie-boarder.
Tomas’ father, Scott, declined a request for an interview through Grant, who said, “He’s not ready yet.”
“Maria is deeply invested in her church, which helps that people are around her,” Grant said. “The Catholic community, I’m sure, is supporting her.”
Grant said he hopes his nephew’s death went as quickly as possible and that it was sudden and painless.
“I hope that that fish was the biggest (expletive) thing in the ocean, and Tomas didn’t even know,” Grant said.
Friends and family describe Butterfield as ‘a good human being’
Friends and family remembered Butterfield as “one of a kind” and described on social media how much they’d miss him.
Photos posted by loved ones show Butterfield aboard boats, holding large fish, spending time at the beach with family and hanging out with friends.
CJ Franke, a longtime friend of Butterfield, posted a remembrance of him on Facebook that said he was “doing what (he) loved” when he died.
Franke told The Tribune she and Butterfield had been friends for 22 years, since they met in Ketchikan.
“He was my first friend up there,” Franke said in a Facebook message. “We stayed in touch weekly, and he became one of my closest friends and was my go-to tennis partner.”
She said Butterfield’s death was especially sad because he was “finally flourishing.”
“He was finally in a good headspace, and I was so dang proud of him,” Franke said. “Share what a good human being and funny guy he was because that was our Tom. One of a kind!”
Another friend, Corrie Ratzat, wrote in a Facebook post that she went to school with Butterfield in Ketchikan.
“I want our community down here to know who he was. Tom was a great guy,” she wrote. “Ben wants everyone to know that Tom died doing what he loved.”
“He was a water guy. ... In the ocean here, in the pool, or on a boat up in Alaska. It’s what Tom loved,” Ratzat added. “He wasn’t a random tourist who didn’t know how to navigate the water.”
Ratzat said that his family appreciates all the support they’ve received.
“Tom’s family is solid in their faith,” she wrote. “They know Tom is in a good place. Please share his name and know that Ben and his mom, Maria are doing okay.
“They’ve been overwhelmed by the love and support of our community here on the Central Coast and beyond grateful to the woman, Rebecca, who they feel was led to Tom to bring him in, so they could have closure,” she said.
This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 1:08 PM.
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