CA CA - Marin Co., WhtMale UP12220, 45-60, in wetsuit on hillside, May'13

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Love143

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This is my first thread, please bear with me.

Unidentified White Male
found May 15, 2013
Age- 45-60
Weight- 180, Estimated
Height- 6ft
Condition- Decomposing/putrefaction
Hair- Dark, grey and black chest hair
Scars and marks- 1.5" horizontal scar on left upper chest and 2.5" diagonal right inguinal scar

Clothing on body
Black "Eddie Bauer" brand jacket (size medium); blue "Reebok" brand surfer typeshirt; black pair of "Kirkland Signature" brand jeans (size 32"x32"); black "Kenneth Cole Reaction" belt buckle (size 32); black full body "O'Neil" brand surf suit (size medium) (this was under the blue "Reebok" shirt); black "Bodyglove" hood with drawstring; pair of black "2(x) ist" underwear; black gloves

Circumstances
Moderately decomposed male found on land on the hillside above Kirby Cove. The subject was clad in a full body surfing suit, black gloves, and black neoprene booties underneath his clothes. The subject could not be visually identified due to moderate decomposition. Estimated time of death about 2-6 weeks.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/12220

What do you think about Christopher Coggin?
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/24102/34?current_page=photos

I also found this on him, so we know he has at least bodyboarded before. Also might explain the small time between.
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/568908/Woman-testifies-fiance-choked-her.html?nav=10

Problems with the match would be the broken neck and arm that Christopher Coggin had, and the scars the UID has, AND everything you guys will see that I didn't.
 
It's possible the arm and neck fractures wouldn't show up on an x-ray.

Did you ever call this PM in?
 
No, I never called it in. I am not very good with that. Plus I wasn't sure if it was worthy of it. That's why I put it up here to get some opinions.
 
Love143 said:
Clothing on body
Black "Eddie Bauer" brand jacket (size medium); blue "Reebok" brand surfer typeshirt; black pair of "Kirkland Signature" brand jeans (size 32"x32"); black "Kenneth Cole Reaction" belt buckle (size 32); black full body "O'Neil" brand surf suit (size medium) (this was under the blue "Reebok" shirt); black "Bodyglove" hood with drawstring; pair of black "2(x) ist" underwear; black gloves

Circumstances
Moderately decomposed male found on land on the hillside above Kirby Cove. The subject was clad in a full body surfing suit, black gloves, and black neoprene booties underneath his clothes. The subject could not be visually identified due to moderate decomposition. Estimated time of death about 2-6 weeks.
Click to expand...

Snipped by me.

My first read through of the OP, I was thinking, who wears t-shirt, jeans and belt buckle under a wetsuit? Then I reread the OP and realized the UID was wearing those things OVER the wetsuit. That's even stranger, isn't it?

I think Christopher Coggin is a really good potential match. From the Maui article, we know Christopher is no stranger to the ocean and the timeframe works assuming Christopher was released on bail.
 
Around here, the surfers and windsailers tend to just put warm clothes on over the suit when they get out of the water.
 
carbuff said:
Around here, the surfers and windsailers tend to just put warm clothes on over the suit when they get out of the water.
Click to expand...
I guess I'm used to only seeing people in wetsuits in warmer weather when you wouldn't bother to put anything on over the suit after getting out of the water.

What you're saying makes perfect sense.
 
Just running a quick search on NamUs for white men who went missing on the west coast in the ~8 weeks prior to when this UID was found doesn't yield any promising results. Not finding much info on Chris Coggin, but what little we do have makes it seem possible.
 
Redux said:
I guess I'm used to only seeing people in wetsuits in warmer weather when you wouldn't bother to put anything on over the suit after getting out of the water.

What you're saying makes perfect sense.
Click to expand...

To me, it implies that he probably went missing in the winter months when it was quite chilly. Coggin would fit that, missing in February. February to May also fits the 2-6 month time line.

Height and age match. Coggin is estimated to have been a bit heavier, but there's such a wide range on his stats (WTF?). UID's clothing sounds like it belongs to a smaller man but they say 72" so I dunno on that front.

Washington CA to Kirby Cove is only about a three-hour drive, so it's entirely plausible he drove down for a day's surfing, kayaking, whatever it is they do in that part of the ocean at that time of year.

This event was happening in Sausalito on Saturday, Feb 16, 2013 (the day Coggin went missing): http://sanfrancisco.eventful.com/events/great-backyard-bird-count-/E0-001-054390159-7 There was a "blue light" meteor the day before. There didn't seem to be anything interesting about the weather that weekend. In the fifties and sixties with afternoon fog, which sounds pretty warm but is cool enough to become hypothermic if you're wet.

Given that a lot of the information is rather vague, he sounds like a very good possibility.
 
carbuff said:
To me, it implies that he probably went missing in the winter months when it was quite chilly. Coggin would fit that, missing in February. February to May also fits the 2-6 month time line.
Click to expand...

The SF Bay is quite cold at all times. I don't think I've ever seen swimmers without wetsuits, although it may be possible.
 
carbuff said:
To me, it implies that he probably went missing in the winter months when it was quite chilly. Coggin would fit that, missing in February. February to May also fits the 2-6 month time line.
...
Given that a lot of the information is rather vague, he sounds like a very good possibility.
Click to expand...

You would be surprised by how counter-intuitive Bay Area weather is. February, for example, is often cited by locals as the best time to visit. "Summer" is often quite cold as the area is plagued by morning fog. And the water is so cold year-round that all the surfers I know use a wetsuit every time. I found this site with historical weather data
https://weatherspark.com/history/31587/2013/San-Francisco-California-United-States
It cites the warmest day of the year as May 2 (88 degrees). The hottest month of the year was September, with the average high temp of 73. So the weather is kind of "all over the place." March saw temp spikes up to the mid-70s and Feb got up to the mid-60s.

I really wish that they would post a post-mortem interval estimate for this John Doe. Because in looking at the data, it's really hard to speculate on it.
 
His Namus page says 2 to 6 weeks. Which is my bad; I thought it said months. That makes Coggin a little less likely. Still a good match, I think.
 
carbuff said:
His Namus page says 2 to 6 weeks. Which is my bad; I thought it said months. That makes Coggin a little less likely. Still a good match, I think.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see it now. I usually look for that information under "Demographics" and I didn't realize that the case manager wrote it into the "Circumstances" section. My mistake. It's certainly a good possible. You should submit it.
 
Information from my boyfriend, authentic Bay Area surfer dude: This man died before he went surfing/abalone diving/sail-boarding/etc as evidenced by the wet suit under the clothes. "No surfer ever put their clothes back on over their suit after they get out of the water. You just don't do that. Guys will literally peel their suit off on the side of the road and put their clothes back on alongside their car."
He also tells me that
this man's car would have been abandoned somewhere nearby for a period of time before being stolen or towed away (most likely)
or that he hitchhiked up there, which is quite common along the CA coastline. The practice of hitchhiking was very common until the 70s brought a rash of serial killers to the Bay Area, and then saw a resurgence in popularity that it still enjoys today.
or that his friends ditched him there. Which is least likely, as surfing buddies are "closer than brothers" and have a kind of "bro code" that brands that kind of ditching as unforgivable.
 
micheleonelonly said:
Oh, I see it now. I usually look for that information under "Demographics" and I didn't realize that the case manager wrote it into the "Circumstances" section. My mistake. It's certainly a good possible. You should submit it.
Click to expand...

It's *supposed* to be under demographics. :p But experience has shown that important information might be put almost anywhere.
 
I may be thinking wrong, but I looked at a topo map of the area and an aerial photo of the area. And I can't imagine how he would have wound up in an "Open space on hillside above Kirby Cove" if he floated there. I have no idea what tides are like there, but it sounds almost like he could have crawled there out of the water.

Kirby Cove topo.JPG

It looks like you'd have to be further in than the beach to qualify as being on the hillside. And the land surrounding the cove (not including the sandy beach) looks to be very rocky and cliff-like.

kirby cove aerial.JPG
 
Updated Namus link: Unidentified Person Case

Ruleouts. Christopher Coggin is now included.

MP19371 Craig Alexander 01/28/1985 Chittenden VT
MP1753 John Butler 08/21/1961 Orange CA
MP24102 Christopher Coggin 02/16/2013 Nevada CA
MP19950 Christopher Gately 12/21/2012 San Francisco CA
MP11647 Usbaldo Hernandez 07/01/1969 Los Angeles CA
MP4722 Charles Hollingsworth 10/26/1970 El Dorado CA
MP17546 Gary Kuns 07/02/2002 San Bernardino CA
MP17154 HAMMAM MOSALLAM 07/14/2012 Solano CA
MP12550 Patrick Pfeiffer 07/28/2011 Los Angeles CA
MP26804 Michael Pickering 04/16/1971 San Bernardino CA
MP22515 Gerritt Vander Veer 09/09/2012 Sonoma CA
MP21346 Chad Veldhaus 05/15/2013 Solano CA
MP17816 Lewis Welch 05/23/1971 Nevada CA
 
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
15 Exclusions:
MP19371 Craig Alexander 01/28/1985 Chittenden VT
MP1753 John Butler 08/21/1961 Orange CA
MP24102 Christopher Coggin 02/16/2013 Nevada CA
MP19950 Christopher Gately 12/21/2012 San Francisco CA
MP11647 Usbaldo Hernandez 07/01/1969 Los Angeles CA
MP4722 Charles Hollingsworth 10/26/1970 El Dorado CA
MP17546 Gary Kuns 07/02/2002 San Bernardino CA
MP17154 HAMMAM MOSALLAM 07/14/2012 Solano CA
MP1429 John Ogle 05/16/1994 Santa Cruz CA
MP12550 Patrick Pfeiffer 07/28/2011 Los Angeles CA
MP26804 Michael Pickering 04/16/1971 San Bernardino CA
MP22515 Gerritt Vander Veer 09/09/2012 Sonoma CA
MP21346 Chad Veldhaus 05/15/2013 Solano CA
MP17816 Lewis Welch 05/23/1971 Nevada CA
MP7000 Jesse Work 02/06/1959 Riverside
 
Coroner still hoping to ID mystery man found in Marin Headlands wearing wetsuit – The Mercury News (it's about this John Doe but the date of the article is not right....??!)

- The body lay southwest of the lower of two batteries, out of easy public view, and was too elevated to have washed ashore.
- The cause of death has not been determined, but the man had no injuries that suggested foul play.
- Harris determined that the wetsuit was the lesser of two thicknesses offered by the manufacturer. After additional investigation, including calls to retailers and rental companies through the region, Harris concluded that the thinner material suggested the wetsuit was not purchased nearby.
- A check of campsites, motels, hostels and psychiatric units in the area turned up no potential matches.
- There were no tagged or towed vehicles that could be matched to the man. He had no tattoos that could distinguish him.
- The autopsy revealed that the man had chipped teeth and a inguinal scar, which suggested the removal of a hernia or testicle. The level of decomposition precluded an exact determination.
- The man had the pain medication Levo-Dromoran in his system. He also had Lexapro, a medication for depression and anxiety.
- The man was white, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and 180 pounds. Harris said he was probably in his late 40s to mid 50s, with short dark hair that was receding on the crown.
- “We really have done a lot of research on this case,” Harris said. “When someone’s not looking for you, you’re hard to find.”
 
Took a fun boat ride, fishing trip, died on board for whatever reason....boat goes to shore in the Kirby Cove...somebody drags him to the place he was found....?? But why not alarming the coast guard or LE? I need a local to explain if this is even possible. Is the water deep enough...?
 
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