Yesterday afternoon, January 7, 2023, a man was reported missing in the remote northwest corner of Mendocino County. Tragically today, a searcher located him deceased at the base of a cliff in that area.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Captain Greg Van Patten told us his agency was informed on Saturday of the missing man and there were indications the man might have “gone missing intentionally”
We’ve been contacted by the missing man’s wife and she assures us, “He did not go missing intentionally.”
Scanner traffic heard today indicated the search was centered somewhere between Whale’s Gulch and Whitethorn, but the exact location of the search and the location the decedent was found remains unknown.
Deputies conducted a hasty search of the area for the missing man yesterday to no avail. Captain Van Patten said Search and Rescue were not deployed because of storm conditions.
It was not until around 10:00 this morning the missing man was located by a searcher “a couple hundred yards (estimated) down a cliff,” Captain Van Patten explained. Multiple agencies were involved in the recovery of the deceased man including Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Whale’s Gulch Volunteer Fire Department, Southern Humboldt County Technical Rescue Team, and Shelter Cove Volunteer Fire Department.
The man’s identity has not yet been publicly released as officials work to inform next of kin.
