Family of drowned mother at Moss Landing seeks funeral assistance

MOSS LANDING — As the search continued for a missing 7-year-old boy whose mother was found drowned near harbor waters Wednesday night, family members were seeking support from the community.

Florencia Ramirez-Urbano, 27, of Salinas, was a farmworker who went to the beach with her two sons Wednesday, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. First responders began converging on the area around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, after Ramirez’s 3-year-old son sought help when his family went missing. Ramirez was founded floating in a Moss Landing lagoon soon after.

“We are absolutely devastated by the passing of my 27-year-old daughter Florencia Ramirez, who was found dead trying to rescue her 7-year-old son Edgar Espinoza in the waters off Moss Landing on March 22, 2023,” Luciana Urbano Vargas wrote in a funeral-expense fundraiser posted to a GoFundMe page Thursday.

The fundraiser had drawn in nearly $2,000 of its $80,000 goal, as of Friday afternoon. Information on the fundraiser is available at gofundme.com.

While the U.S. Coast Guard announced early Thursday afternoon that they had ceased its search after more than 11.5 total hours for Ramirez’s missing 7-year-old son, identified by family as Edgar, the Sheriff’s Office continued underwater search efforts Friday morning, authorities said.

“Due to very low visibility in the water, they are ardently continuing by using line search techniques to make every effort to locate the child,” Undersheriff Keith Boyd wrote in a media release Friday. “The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the personnel of the Coroner Unit offers its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Ramirez-Urbano.”

According to family, Florencia Ramirez was from San Martín Peras Juxtlahuaca Oaxaca, Mexico.