Medical exam set for Healdsburg man found dead at Goat Rock Beach

A forensic exam has been scheduled Monday to determine what happened to a 73-year-old Healdsburg man whose body was found in the water near Goat Rock Beach, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said Thursday.

Trauma to the body initially appeared to be a gunshot wound. But authorities Thursday said the man could have been injured in a fall or by other means.

Sgt. Spencer Crum said a forensic medical exam is needed to determine how the man was injured and whether the wound involved gunfire. The man’s name was being withheld while the coroner staff continued to locate a relative.

The man had been reported missing by a longtime girlfriend about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Crum said. She said he hadn’t returned home from work the night before.

About 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, beach visitors spotted the man in the water just north of the south Goat Rock Beach parking lot and called authorities. He was fully clothed.

Deputies found the man’s vehicle in the parking lot, Crum said. No weapon was recovered in the area.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.