Autopsy scheduled on Bodega Head mystery body
By MARY CALLAHAN / The Press Democrat
An autopsy is scheduled Friday for a man whose remains were recovered Wednesday from the surf below Bodega Head, the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office said Thursday.
Despite speculation that the body might belong to one of four crewmates still missing from a Tiburon-based sailboat that capsized April 14 off the Farallon Islands, officials said it was far too early to know, calling it one of multiple possibilities.
“At this point … there’s nothing to indicate that it is anybody from that boating accident,” said sheriff’s Lt. Dennis O’Leary. “We’ll be going through our missing persons list. We’ve got a bunch of people calling” about previous accidents at sea.
The remains were spotted Tuesday evening at the foot of a 250-foot cliff by tourists hiking in the area, authorities said.
A sheriff’s deputy was posted in the area until daylight Wednesday, when the sheriff’s helicopter could be used to lower someone to the water to recover the body.
There were no obvious signs of foul play, O’Leary said.
The body was badly damaged by its time in the water and the clothing stripped off by wave action, leaving no identification behind, O’Leary said.
He suggested dental records likely would be required to make identification.
O’Leary said investigators planned to contact San Francisco police to see what work had already been done to prepare for the possibility of identifying remains found in the wake of the April 14 accident, in which a 38-foot sailboat capsized during the Full Crew Farallones Race.
Three crewmembers swept overboard were rescued, and one man later was found dead. Three men and one woman remained missing.
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