Man dies after 30-foot fall

Authorities are investigating the death of a Newark man who appears to have stepped from his pickup and fallen 30 feet over the side of a sheer embankment off a rural road near the Sonoma Coast early Saturday.

He was identified as James Fischer, 52.

A passerby found the body off Tin Barn Road in Annapolis just before 5 a.m. after noticing the truck at the edge of the embankment, Sonoma County Sheriff's Lt. Scott Dunn said.

Upon further investigation, the passerby saw that a man had fallen off the edge. It may have been too dark for him to realize the ground just dropped off, Dunn said.

"It appears to have been an accident," he said.

The incident occurred near Hauser Bridge, above Highway 1 and about halfway between Stewarts Point and The Sea Ranch.

-- Mary Callahan