Healdsburg man’s Goat Rock death ruled suicide; suspect in Texas child molestation case

A Healdsburg man whose body was found in the water off Goat Rock Beach died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said.

Francis Henry Molloy, 73, of Healdsburg is believed to have shot himself Aug. 24 atop a Sonoma Coast bluff and then fallen down the cliff and into the water, Sgt. Spencer Crum said. Molloy had been reported missing that morning by a longtime girlfriend.

After Molloy’s death, coroner investigators learned he was being sought by the U.S. Marshal’s office because of a criminal investigation in Texas, Crum said.

A warrant for Molloy’s arrest on suspicion of child molestation was issued in February in Williamson County north of Austin. Sheriff’s officials with Williamson County couldn’t provide additional details about the case Friday.

Molloy was a well-known lacrosse official who refereed games across the country and had been inducted into the Northern California Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame.

Molloy, who went by the first name Hank, lived in Cupertino for many years before moving to Healdsburg, said Gary Alabaster, board chairman of the Northern California Lacrosse Referees Association.

Alabaster said he’s known Molloy for about 30 years and was shocked to receive a phone call from the U.S. Marshal’s office after Molloy’s death.

“He was a positive influence on an unbelievable number of people in the lacrosse world and outside the lacrosse world,” Alabaster said. “He was a good man and none of this makes sense.”

Molloy wrote the manual for lacrosse officials decades ago that’s still in use today, Alabaster said. He grew up in Evanston, Ill. and played the game as early as high school, where he started the team, Alabaster said.

“He’s made a huge contribution to officiating across the United States,” Alabaster said. “This stuff from Texas is inconsistent with all that I know about him.”

Alabaster said he last spoke with Molloy by phone on the afternoon of Aug. 23 - the day sheriff’s officials said he was expected to return home but did not.

Alabaster said they discussed lacrosse business and “it was a normal conversation.”

On Aug. 24, beach visitors spotted Molloy’s body in the surf zone about 1:30 p.m. just north of the south Goat Rock Beach parking lot. Authorities said he was fully clothed and his vehicle was found in the beach parking lot.

A forensic medical examination revealed trauma on his body that indicated he had fallen after the gunshot to his head.