33-year-old mom dies saving son at Crystal Beach

GALVESTON, Texas (FOX 26) - Coast Guard officials say a body has been found near Crystal Beach on Galveston's Bolivar Peninsula that matches the description of a 33-year-old woman who disappeared Monday afternoon after trying to help her 4-year-old child struggling in the rough Gulf of Mexico surf.

Tuesday morning they found a body matching the description of Brandy Mosley.

Mosley was last seen entering the water in a grey shirt and maroon shorts around 1:30 p.m. Monday. The Coast Guard reports she was trying to rescue her 4-year old child who was struggling in the water. They say the boy made it back to shore, but his mother did not return.

"It hardly ever happens around here," said Crystal Beach resident Jeff Kaye, referring to swimmers being taken under in the waters. "It's a little more choppy [today] just because of the wind, but most the time it's fairly flat."

Friends of Mosley who were on the beach say she is a strong swimmer, and family said she has visited the beach in the Bolivar Peninsula area before and was not unfamiliar with the waters.

Laura Blackburn is staying at a home nearby the area where Mosley went missing. She says she saw a group of adults and children – many of them crying – as police spoke to a distraught women she later learned was Mosley's sister. Family confirmed Mosley had been renting a beach house with her sister and had just arrived that day.

Blackburn recalled her own incident rescuing a child from water on a past vacation. While it wasn't in Texas, it nearly cost her life when she got caught in a rip current.

"We didn't know to swim sideways, but we got it on our backs and finally someone came to rescued us, and we were OK. We're hoping maybe she is floating on her back or something. Maybe a miracle will happen and she's OK," said Blackburn.

An uncle of Mosley said he drove over from Houston as soon as he got word, saying he wanted to be sure the 4-year old boy was in safe hands. He says the rest of Mosley's family – including her husband – were on their way from the Dallas area.