Friends remember man who went missing in reported shark attack near Point Reyes

Friends are remembering a man who vanished after a suspected shark attack near Point Reyes last Sunday.

Friends say Felix Louis-N’jai was a world-class kite surfer, who was training for the Olympics.

They added that Louis-N’jai would come out to Crissy Field Beach nearly every day. His circle of friends say it will never be the same.

“He made me feel like I was the most important person in the world when I’d come down to the beach. He just had that specialness about him,” said Erika Heineken, the victim’s friend.

According to his friends, Louis-Njai was an avid kite surfer and outdoorsman from San Francisco. He died while swimming at Point Reyes National Seashore on Sunday. His friends say he was killed in a reported shark attack.

“It’s surreal. It’s unbelievable,” said Charlie Dietrich, the victim’s friend.

Friends say Louis-Njai was at Point Reyes to celebrate a friend’s wedding. Kite surfers gathered at Crissy Field on Monday to mourn together. They said the groom, who was in the water with Louis-Njai, shared what happened.

“We all got in a circle, and we listen to the story. And there wasn’t a dry eye in the group,” said Jim Keenan, Louis-Njai’s friend.

Keenan added the man told them Louis-Njai was taking to two buddies in the water when the shark struck.

“And then a shark came up, grabbed Felix by the neck supposedly, brought him down and that was the last they saw. Two other guys rushed out of the water, turned around and they saw blood and some commotion in the water. But no Felix and that was it,” he said.

Louis-Njai’s friends are devastated. They say he was training to compete in the 2024 Olympics for his native country Gambia. They say his passion for the sport and the energy he shared with everyone he knew was unmatched.

"I will remember the kind of passion that he had for life. I saw it every moment that I was around him, and I think that is something I definitely strive to do more of,” Heineken said.