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Two men have died after going on a late-night canoe trip while camping in Tomales Bay in California
The Marin County Sheriff’s Office identified one of the victims as San Francisco resident Casey Flynn Melia, 36, while the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office identified the second man as Alexander Ferguson, 37
A forensic post-mortem examination and routine toxicology testing will be carried out later this week, officials confirmed
Two men have died after going on a late-night canoe trip while camping in California.
Just before midnight on Saturday, Aug. 29, Casey Flynn Melia, 36, a San Francisco resident, left a campsite on Tomales Bay in a canoe, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. He was later pronounced dead after search teams located him unresponsive near Hog Island.
Alexander Ferguson, 37, of Pacifica, also died during the incident, a Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE.
A stock photo of Tomales Bay in California
Credit: Yalonda M. James/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty
Concerns for the pair’s safety had grown when they did not return the morning after taking out the canoe, and the group they were camping with called 911, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said in the release.
“During the search, first responders located the first individual unresponsive in the water. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) rescued the individual and transported them to Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, where emergency personnel declared them deceased. The Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner Bureau is leading the investigation into this individual’s death,” the release stated.
The sheriff’s office continued, “A short time later, search teams located Mr. Melia unresponsive near Hog Island. He was recovered by the National Park Service (NPS) and brought to Sacramento Landing, where first responders pronounced him deceased.”
The two campers died after heading out to see the bay’s famous bioluminescence, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
A forensic post-mortem examination and routine toxicology testing will be carried out later this week, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in its statement. The cause of death for both victims has not yet been released.
Pamalah MacNeily, who runs Blue Waters Kayaking, said the victims’ friends had approached one of her tour guides and asked whether he had seen them, per ABC7.
“The friends of one of the people who died came up and said, ‘Have you seen our friends? They’re in a canoe.’ And he said, ‘No, you better call 911 because we’ve not seen them,’ and the car was still there,” MacNeily told the outlet.
Ferguson had served as a planning commissioner for Pacifica for nearly six years before his death, according to KTVU FOX 2.
Pacifica Mayor Christine Boles told the Chronicle that she was “heartbroken” after hearing about the tragedy, and said she would often see Ferguson and his family at the park.
Emergency responders are seen at Tomales Bay, California
Credit: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco
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“He is also a husband and father of three young children, and I’ve often seen him and his beautiful family strolling around his beloved neighborhood of Sharp Park,” Boles told the outlet.
Christina Walter, who was Ferguson’s neighbor, told KTVU FOX 2 that she was in “complete shock” after hearing that he had died, adding that she was “devastated for their family.”
“What a great neighbor, dad, husband he was, as much as I knew him, and mentor to my son. He’s going to be really missed,” Walter said.
The Marin County Coroner’s Office and a Sonoma County spokesperson didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.
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