Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned while swimming with his 8-year-old daughter in Costa Rica, according to a recent ABC News investigation.

The 54-year-old actor, best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, died on Sunday, July 20, while on a family vacation with his wife and daughter, whose identities have not been made public. According to ABC News, surfers saw Warner and his daughter struggling in the water and dived in to aid them.

One surfer allegedly used his board to save Warner’s daughter, while a volunteer lifeguard aided in bringing the actor and another surfer to land. According to the publication, Warner had 45 minutes of CPR on the shore. Both surfers who assisted Warner and his daughter survived the disaster.

On Wednesday, July 23, Dr. Mauricio Sonalo Corella, the Medical Director for the Talamanca Health Area, told PEOPLE that a man attempting to assist Warner had been released from the hospital after undergoing treatment “without complications.”

The Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) confirmed to PEOPLE that the actor’s autopsy was finished on Tuesday, July 22, and revealed that he died of unintentional asphyxiation by drowning. This comes one day after a source informed PEOPLE that Warner was body surfing in the sea on a family holiday to Costa Rica when he died.

Although the late actor kept most of his personal life out of the public, he had previously shared photos showing his love for his only kid. Warner never publicly revealed his daughter’s name or birthdate, and he kept his wife’s identity confidential, although he did refer to their child as a “mini us” in a 2021 Instagram post.

Warner also shared a throwback video of him dancing with his daughter when she was a newborn, noting how quickly she had grown up by 2023.

“Yoooo! Do you all remember this? Wow, time flies! He added, “I was playing this song in the car over the weekend, and my baby didn’t even remember it.” “When she was one, we used to play it all the time. I had to go back and retrieve this post to show her. I’m delighted to announce that this lovely song is currently back in rotation.”

Warner began his acting career by portraying Theo Huxtable, the only son of Bill Cosby’s character, Heathcliff Huxtable, on The Cosby Show from 1984 until 1992.

He went on to act opposite Eddie Griffin in the comedy Malcolm & Eddie from 1996 to 2000, and he was also well recognized for his role as Alex Reed on Reed Between the Lines, which he co-starred in with Tracee Ellis Ross from 2011 to 2015.

In the days leading up to his death, Warner was busy hosting his podcast, Not All Hood, which he began in May 2024. He cohosted with Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley.

“When we talk about the Black community, we tend to speak of it as a monolith when the reality is there are so many different facets of the Black community, and we wanted to have a space where we can really explore, discuss, and acknowledge all of those different aspects,” he told PEOPLE about his podcast’s objectives before it being released.