[UPDATE 4:52 p.m.:Another Photo] Decomposed Body Found Near Eagle Prairie Bridge Connecting Rio Dell and Scotia
A decomposed body was discovered on the Scotia side of the Eagle Prairie Bridge, which connects Rio Dell and Scotia, according to initial reports. About 1:50 p.m., according to scanner reports, Rio Dell police were at the scene standing by with the person who originally reported finding the body, with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office on their way and expected to take over the investigation as that area is their jurisdiction.
The area is known to have a large homeless encampment nearby. But it is unknown if the deceased is connected with the camp.
Please remember that information gathered from initial reports is subject to revision as more facts become available.
Note: Appreciative thanks to Emily Scoles who is very helpful at gathering information.
UPDATE 3:30 p.m.: Video and photos from Emily Scoles.


UPDATE 4:52 p.m.: Photographer Lauren Johnson sent us this photo which shows where the body was located. It may have been deposited as water levels in the Eel River dropped.

Law enforcement at the location of the decomposing body which is on a slight raised gravel island in the Eel River. [Photo Lauren Johnson]
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My Grandfather said the only thing he ever smelled that stank as badly as a dead human was a dead pig.
That’s a lovely contribution. On behalf of everyone who’s eyes had the fortune to happen upon and who’s brain was allowed to digest a sentiment so lovely, I’d like to say thank you. Now whenever I smell either I can be assured, because your PeePaw said so, that it stank as badly as the other.
There is a smell that comes as soon as a death occurs , once you smell it , you can never forget it , it is not foul so much as a almost sweet sick sort of smell , you can smell it even after leaving the area the death occurred and in many cases still smell it on the clothes you were wearing even if you never were in contact with the person that has passed just being near is enough. Nothing in has effected me more than that smell , it is powerful , it will remind a person of things that they worked hard to over come and it happens so incredibly fast , that it hits harder than a bass drum at a rock concert unless you are prepared for it . And yes pigs do have the same smell as humans at death , however humans and pigs are very much compatible , we use pigs to grow human body parts for transplants we are so close. It is very sickening to think about how our race can be so very cruel to creatures , it has to be some sort of mental illness that drives this sort of behavior when we will permit condone or whatever the torture of something else to promote a slightly longer life. When in fact most have already had a longer life then they are permitting the victim to have . Very sad the state of human mental decay we deserve everything we have coming thats for sure
You’re obviously had direct experience with the smell. Hard not to gag if you’re not prepared
Or not.
I’ve helped deal with about 15 dead bodies in various states, done CPR on five. They smell anywhere from piss, barf, poo, blood, to leather. Not good, but not so dramatic. Like any dead animal. It’s the digestive smells that remind you of humans. Brush and floss! Decomposition starts at your face hole.
This was a floater. A week or so in the water is like a week in the jungle. The body is barely recognizable as human.
I’ve found one within 12 hours maybe. Hung up after floating. After/during hypothetical hypothermia. Not super smelly.
Sorry you had to see that
Thanks for that input…
I’m not trying to be funny, but you describe it as a floater, but what I am wondering if it was stationary, or if it was a drifter…
A body could travel a long way drifting for a week…
And what makes you say a week, and no, I don’t suspect you, or anything like that…
Just a general statement…???
I have a valid reason that I’m asking you both questions, if you don’t mind…
Seems like it could have been a fisherman.A week prior to the body’s discovery, Early AM, I noticed a lot of fishermen activity, around Garberville…
Then it rained pretty hard…
The river must have been dropping prior to this discovery…
Odd there are no area relevant missing persons reports lately, that I know of, besides one that seems extremely unlikely…
Drowning victims often sink because of the weight of clothes, etc. Depending on the temperature, internal decomposition starts to release gases in a week or so. That brings the body back to the surface, hence “floater”. The gases are what makes the stench
facts.
I agree with you about human`s treatment of animals. I like animals much better than I do humans in general.
Hitler had similar views I’ve heard. People who value animals more than human beings……..
Hitler was a vegetarian. So…does that mean that all vegetarians are secretly like Hitler?!
yeppers, obviously
That’s like saying ALL boomers are responsible for the denigration of the American ideal, the hollowing out of the economy, and the ruination of the planet for everyone else and their kids.. I’m sure there are a couple exceptions.
I mean people get tied to Hitler for less, like a hand gesture for instance?♂️
Obviously, yes. Harvesting vegetables is mass slaughter.
Let the rabbits wear glasses!!!!
animals value human beings more than human beings do… Just sayin’
This guy is sus as hell
I think on social media we may need something between the + and – to voice our opinion. This reply started very well, and then went kind of sideways.
Interesting read first thing in the morning on a Sunday. Well, time to go cook some waffles, bacon and eggs for the kids..
Have “smelled” thousands of dead bodies, relatively fresh…<week old….smells fine to me. The dead are amoung the easiest folks to work with….
thousands?
And your comment is a close second
Hugo, your comment may be true but it is hurtful and insensitive to all of us who have lost a loved one. If your intention was to garner sympathy for the recovery team, we already have that.
Very inappropriate Hugo.
I sure pray that law enforcement and the coroner can identify the poor soul who has perished. Homeless or not it, is very sad.
It really is sad. What a helluva way to go.
That is for sure. Not to mention it was some one’s child at one point. If they can find the victim’s family, I would like to send my condolences to them and hope their relative will finally RIP.
Thank you as I’m am mortified at these cold hearted comments as my son is a missing person in Humboldt County and LE do absolutely nothing to help families of missing persons no mother should have to be out here looking for her son alone!????? it’s a living hellish horror!! God please let me find my Son Roy Tsatoke ????????????
Here’s more information about your son’s case for those who need a reminder: https://kymkemp.com/2024/09/28/missing-person-alert-roy-tsatoke/
Kim is there any way to get undated information on this I’m in torture wondering if it could be my son
Heather, I can only imagine the struggle. We have requested additional information but have yet to recieve anything additional. Have you contacted HCSO? They may be able to give you information as the mother of a missing person.
A mom my family knows has posted on Facebook that it was her son. May your son be found safe ♥️
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1600958366897457/permalink/4065042943822308/?mibextid=A7sQZp
She is the young man’s mother
My Family knows the mother whose son this is. She posted it’s her son on Facebook. May you find your son safe ♥️
I truly hope you will find your son. Some people have no heart when it comes to missing folks.
Praying that they can identify this person & bring some comfort & closure to their family and friends.
Kym,
Going by what appears to be the new 101 double spanned bridge’s shadow, and the time of day, in the most recent photo of the recovery location, it would appear that this is downstream of the new 101 bridge, not “under the Eagle Prairie Bridge”, as first reported…
Thanks Kym, asked and answered…, and probably answered before I even asked…
A picture is worth a thousand words…
Correction…
It was first reported as…
“on the Scotia side of the Eagle Prairie Bridge”, not, “under the Eagle Prairie Bridge”…
I regret the error..
How sad. Rest in Peace…
Is that a fentanyl warrior bent over on the sidewalk to watch out for the officers safety?
That bridge has a little bit of a history with jumpers. I remember a guy in the 80s jumping, naked , broke some bones the ran around town for help.
Back in the 80’s someone left a dead body under there with hand cut off and teeth kicked out to keep from being identified. If I remember correctly it was a guy I knew when I was in Kinter garden.
Not everyone who walks that bridge including the person bent over is a fentanyl warrior.
There was 2 lady’s dropped off that bridge back in the 80s to separately. A kid I went to school with ,and lived by, found them both. 7th grade lucky him
Your definitely right humboldt has had a history of murder. It started with the native Americans. And it was socially acceptable. The line between right and wrong was blurry at best in humboldt from its inception. I think a couple of family’s still produce antisocial genetics.
If it’s natural causes they will release info soon. If you don’t hear about it, then it’s a case.
Humboldt county history is so tied to murder that they named a creek and valley after a serial killer, Larrabee he bragged of killing 60 children with a hatchet. And was a hero. Same with Kenyon, port Kenyon in ferndale . Look those guys up. Larrabee killed his sons best friend and his family because they were native american.
https://www.times-standard.com/2025/03/22/body-found-along-eel-river-idd-as-rio-dell-man/