Matthew Coleman biography: 13 things about Santa Barbara, California man who founded Lovewater Surf School

Matthew Taylor Coleman is an American man born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, United States. His mother is an artist while his father is a small business owner.

Growing up near the ocean, Coleman enjoyed spearfishing, sailing and surfing. He speaks English and Spanish.

Coleman earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. He is the founder of Lovewater Surf School, which serves the Santa Barbara area with surf lessons, summer surf camps and beginner to advanced coaching and after-school programs.

Abby Coleman and Matthew are the parents of Kaleo Skye Coleman and Roxy Rain Coleman. At around 2:45 a.m. on August 9, 2021, Matthew left a City Express hotel in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico with his two children and at around 5:45 a.m., he returned to the hotel by himself.

At 7:30 a.m., a farmworker found the two children dead near the El Descanso ranch in Rosarito. Roxy had been stabbed 12 times while Kaleo was stabbed 17 times.

At 9:30 a.m., Matthew checked out from the hotel. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. After competing on Point Loma’s National Champion surf team for years, he moved to San Sebastian, Spain where he taught English from 2006 to 2007.
2. In 2009, he earned his master’s degree in Spanish from the University of California Santa Barbara.
3. On September 27, 2014, he was at the Black’s Beach in La Jolla, San Diego.
4. On April 6, 2015, he was with Christian surfers on Santa Cruz Island in Ventura, California.
5. In September 2016, he and Abby got engaged.
6. In January 2017, he visited New Zealand. On January 8, 2017, he and Abby got married.
7. On May 12, 2018, he was in Nipomo, California. In October 2018, Abby gave birth to Kaleo.
8. On May 1, 2019, he took to Instagram to share a photo of himself and Kaleo. In the caption, he wrote, “You could say I enjoy being a dad.”
9. In September 2020, Abby gave birth to their daughter Roxy. On November 22, 2020, he wrote a lengthy Facebook post in which he asked “What if we are about to enter the greatest Renaissance period that the world has ever seen?” and “What if 2020 is just the birth pains of what is on its way in 2021 and beyond?”
10. On August 7, 2021, Abby called the Santa Barbara Police Department to report that he had left their home in a Mercedes Sprinter van and she did not know where he and their children had gone.
11. On August 9, 2021, U.S. Border police arrested him on August 9, 2021 while he was trying to reenter the U.S. from Mexico without his children. He explained that he was enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories and was receiving visions and signs revealing that Abby possessed serpent DNA and had passed it onto Kaleo and Roxy, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit.
12. He was 42 years old when Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo ruled in October 2023 he was not competent to stand trial and committed him for intensive treatment.
13. On March 8, 2024, he will attend another competency hearing.