Sacramento-area man identified as kayaker pulled from waters near Sonoma coast

A 45-year-old Carmichael man has been identified as the kayaker who was pronounced dead Friday after being pulled from the water while reportedly crabbing near Bodega Bay on the Sonoma County coast.

The man was identified Monday by coroner’s officials as Jacob Rajaniemi, The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa reported. His exact cause of death and how long he was in the water before being found by rescuers remains under investigation, according to The Press Democrat.

“Our marine unit is conducting a boating accident investigation and the coroner’s office is conducting their death investigation, so once those are both complete we should have a better idea of what happened,” Emily Fuller, a spokesperson for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, told The Press Democrat.

Authorities said another kayaker found Rajaniemi face down in the water Friday morning with his kayak upside-down near the head of the Bodega Bay channel. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and its helicopter, Henry 1, responded about 10:12 a.m. to a request from the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance with a water rescue near Doran Beach.

Rajaniemi was located by deputies wearing a personal flotation device and pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m. Authorities said it remained unclear whether Rajaniemi experienced a medical emergency or how he came to be in the water. An autopsy is expected to be performed, according to the newspaper.

Officials believed Rajaniemi was alone and had been crabbing in the area, a Coast Guard official told The Press Democrat.

Bodega Bay is 80 miles west of Sacramento.