Authorities launched a search Thursday along the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a day after a human leg washed ashore.
The Palos Verdes Estates Police Department said in a written statement that the limb was found in the 800 block of Paseo Del Mar, the same location where an overturned boat belonging to two fishermen turned up earlier this week. The statement did not offer further details about the body part.
The department said a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department cadaver dog was used to thoroughly search the area for additional remains, but none were found.
Police officials said the Los Angeles County medical examiner will attempt to identify the remains that were found and whether the limb is related to the capsized boat incident that occurred on Dec. 23.
According to police, the men went fishing aboard a small boat that Monday afternoon, leaving from San Pedro. Forecasters had issued a small craft advisory that day, warning boaters in Los Angeles County that there could be waves up to 10 feet high.
The men were reported missing the next morning after they did not return from fishing. Shortly after, a person discovered their boat overturned on a stretch of rocky shoreline in Palos Verdes Estates, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The coast guard carried out a search and rescue christmas eve for the two men, but were forced to call off the operation the next day amid dangerous waves and strong winds.
The boaters' disappearance occurred during a week in which massive waves Damaged the historic Santa Cruz pier and a man died after becoming trapped in debris in high surf in Monterey Bay.
The discovery of the leg marks the second time human remains have turned up in the same area. last month a human skull and bones washed ashore in the same area. Forensic officials have not identified those remains.
Times staffWriter Tony Briscoe contributed to this report..
