Elderly Woman Dies After Being Swept into Ocean at MacKerricher State Park, Identity Unknown

[Crop of a stock photo by Mark McKenna]

Sheriff’s deputies said they were dispatched around 2:00 p.m. on December 22 to MacKerricher Beach after the CAL FIRE Howard Forest Dispatch Center requested assistance for an ongoing medical emergency involving California State Parks personnel. Investigators learned that the woman had been standing on rocks when she was knocked off by a large wave and swept into the ocean.

Bystanders who witnessed the incident were able to pull the woman from the water and bring her back to shore. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the woman became unresponsive after reaching the beach and lost consciousness. Advanced life-saving measures were performed by fire and medical personnel but were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

California State Parks officials said their dispatch received a call at approximately 1:33 p.m. reporting a woman pulled into the ocean about 50 yards offshore, just north of Laguna Point. A bystander brought her back to shore, where she was initially conscious and had a pulse before weakening and losing consciousness. State Park lifeguards and the Fort Bragg Fire Department arrived and began CPR before she was pronounced dead.

The decedent is described as an elderly white woman in her 70s. Authorities said she was not known to anyone at the scene, no one reported visiting the park with her, and no identifying documents were found. Sheriff’s deputies checked unattended vehicles in the park’s parking area and contacted other law enforcement agencies regarding possible missing persons reports, but the woman has not yet been positively identified.

Investigators reported no suspicious circumstances. The incident was witnessed by bystanders, and deputies said the drowning appears to have been accidental.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has notified local and regional law enforcement agencies and requested to be contacted if any missing person report matches the woman’s general description. A post-mortem examination will be conducted next week by a forensic pathologist. The official cause and manner of death will not be released until that examination, and related investigative reports are complete.

Anyone with information that could assist in identifying the woman is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at 707-463-4086 (option 1).