A missing California kayaker has been found dead days after he went missing during a crabbing trip with friends, authorities said Thursday.
Clinton Yoshio Koga, 39, was recovered Wednesday by California Recovery Divers, a volunteer aquatic search group, about 100 yards offshore from Lawson’s Landing, where he had gone fishing with friends in Tomales Bay, the county’s office said. Marin County Sheriff.
Koga had gone out alone into the bay around 6:10 pm on January 27 to retrieve a crab cage. Less than 20 minutes later, a friend noticed that he couldn’t see Koga’s kayak from shore, the sheriff’s office said.
The friend reported Koga missing to the sheriff’s office while his other friends searched the waters of the bay for any sign of their missing friend.
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California Recovery Divers, a volunteer aquatic search group, located Koga’s body about 100 yards off the coast of Lawson’s Landing.
(California recovery divers)
The Marin County Fire Department, Marin County Dive Team, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter and the US Coast Guard assisted in the search for Koga, which officials described as as “intensive”.
However, Koga was not found despite great effort and the search was called off.
The volunteer dive group had been searching Tomales Bay for the missing kayaker.
(California recovery divers)
Five days after the search began, the volunteer dive team located Koga around 4:15 p.m., the sheriff’s office said. Koga was taken to Camp Lawson’s Landing, where paramedics confirmed his death.
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“Tough job in the tidal current,” California Recovery Divers said in a Facebook post. “Thank you so much to our volunteers for bringing Clinton home.”
Tomales Bay is viewed from Tom’s Point in Tomales Bay, California on August 29, 2019.
(Yalonda M. James/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images, file)
The cause and manner of death are pending the conclusion of investigations, including a post-mortem forensic examination with routine toxicology testing.
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Koga, who was from Brentwood, California, was remembered by friends on social media.
“I couldn’t catch a worthwhile football growing up, but you always threw it my way,” friend Rudy Carranza said, according to FOX2 KTVU. “I will always miss you and try to pick up the pieces and move on.”
