Body of Former Pro Surfer Chris Brown Washes Up on Santa Barbara Beach

Professional surfer Chris Brown has died.

On Saturday, Brown’s body was found washed ashore on Hendry’s Beach in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Independent reported.

The Santa Barbara Police Department responded to the scene around noon on Jan. 20 and discovered Brown’s body, according to the outlet. He was 48.

At this time, his exact cause of death remains unclear and is currently under investigation, spokesperson Anthony Wager told the Santa Barbara Independent.

At only 17 years old, Brown, who was born and raised in Santa Barbara, won the juniors division of the 1988 World Amateur Surfing Championships.

He later went pro in the 1990s, winning the Professional Surfing Association of America Championship in 1994. He also competed against renowned surfer Kelly Slater.

Following the news of his death, Slater, 46, wrote a heartfelt tribute in honor of the surfer on Instagram.

“Chris Brown and I were nearly inseparable as teenagers,” Slater began before sharing a fond memory of Brown.

View this post on Instagram

It’s taken me a couple days to even want to think about it. Chris Brown and I were nearly inseparable as teenagers. This guy was just such an excited, happy light in my childhood. He introduced me to #AlMerrick and @cisurfboards. My brother and I stayed with Chris and his family on the Mesa in SB a couple summers and traveled to Mexico, Australia, England, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and beyond with Chris and his dad, Dave. We used to sit in his house and just goof off all day listening to his brother play every heavy metal song we knew on his guitar. The day I got my first Al shape when I was 16, Chris and I drove back and forth twice in the same day to Lompoc to surf cause SB had no waves. We’d listen to GnR in his brown truck. He used to mess with #JoshBradury when Josh would follow us in his car by waiting at a turn signal, pretending his car had something wrong with it, even getting out to check the engine, until the light was very yellow and then jump in and take off, leaving Josh stuck for another light! Haha. Chris and I shaped a board together in his parent’s backyard, each shaping a rail. Being from the east coast and riding @matt_kechele shapes, I had thick, rounded rails while Chris had been schooled on the finer, precision rails that worked well at Rincon. When we finally felt the board we laughed and decided we had to have Chris reshape mine down to feel like his rail. He actually won a #PSAA event on that board cause Al was gone for a month somewhere and he had broken his favorite board. I felt a huge sense of pride that he had competed on that thing. Chris, Sean, and I made ourselves wooden boards to ride the ice plant down the Mesa in front of his house. I guess the waves were so flat all summer we had no better ideas. We would skate down the steep hills to the Channel Islands shop to pass time when there was nothing else to do. It was so exciting being from the east coast, knowing Chris, and then getting to know the Channel Islands family. It was truly life changing for me. Chris surfed like Tom Curren (@curfuffle). You would see the lineage in every wave he rode and being around that style as a kid was so inspiring…. #YeahChris!

A post shared by Kelly Slater (@kellyslater) on Jan 22, 2019 at 11:00am PST

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“This guy was just such an excited, happy light in my childhood. He introduced me to #AlMerrick and @cisurfboards. The day I got my first Al shape when I was 16, Chris and I drove back and forth twice in the same day to Lompoc to surf ’cause SB had no waves. We’d listen to GnR in his brown truck.”

“Chris and I shaped a board together in his parent’s backyard, each shaping a rail. Being from the east coast and riding @matt_kechele shapes, I had thick, rounded rails while Chris had been schooled on the finer, precision rails that worked well at Rincon.”

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“When we finally felt the board we laughed and decided we had to have Chris reshape mine down to feel like his rail,” Slater continued.

“He actually won a #PSAA event on that board ’cause AL was gone for a month somewhere and he had broken his favorite board.”

“I felt a huge sense of pride that he had competed on that thing. It was so exciting being from the east coast, knowing Chris, and then getting to know the Channel Island family. It was truly life changing for me. Chris surfed like Tom Curren. You would see the lineage in every wave he rode and being around that style as a kid was so inspiring… #YeahChris!” Slater concluded.

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We are going to miss your big smile and enthusiasm CB. I really looked up to Chris Brown as a youngster, he was one of the only guys that could beat @kellyslater in the late 80s and early 90s. He went on to charge Mavericks and become a Commercial fishermen… what a legend. Thanks for your friendship over the years Brahda. Ps. I have no details on what happened.

A post shared by Keith Malloy (@thetorpedopeople) on Jan 20, 2019 at 10:49am PST

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Surfer Keith Malloy also remembered Brown.

“We are going to miss your big smile and enthusiasm CB. I really looked up to Chris Brown as a youngster, he was one of the only guys that could beat @KellySlater in the late 80s and early 90s,” Malloy wrote alongside a photo of Brown when he was younger.

In addition to his life as a surfer, Brown was a proud father. He is survived by his 22-year-old daughter Chloe.

Brown’s family have since created a GoFundMe in support of Chloe.

“ had the biggest smile you will ever see which was infections. He was well accredited pro smiling surfer with many accolades, the most important being a father to his beautiful daughter,” the page reads.

from PEOPLE.com http://bit.ly/2Mumlni