Kayaker spots woman’s decomposing body floating in California river, deputies say
A kayaker spotted a woman’s decomposing body floating in a California river, deputies say.
The kayaker called Ukiah police Sunday, March 24, at about 4:30 p.m. after seeing a body drifting in the Russian River, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Police then contacted Mendocino County deputies, as the location of the possible body fell under county jurisdiction, according to deputies.
The sheriff’s office said it, along with multiple fire agencies, searched for a body near Morrison Creek and Old River Road.
Using an “unmanned aerial vehicle,” deputies said fire officials scoured the river and found a woman’s body shortly after 5:30 p.m.
Fire officials entered the “fast-moving water” to retrieve the body from the river, deputies said.
As the body “had been in the water for some time,” deputies said it was badly decomposed, making it impossible to identify her.
The body did not have “obvious signs of external trauma,” deputies said.
An investigation is ongoing, according to deputies.
Mendocino County is about a 170-mile drive northwest from Sacramento.
