SAN RAFAEL — The Marin County Sheriff’s Office has announced that a missing kayaker was found dead.
On Jan. 27 at approximately 6:10 p.m. Clinton Yoshio Koga, 39, of Brentwood reportedly entered Tomales Bay on a kayak from the Lawson’s Landing campground to retrieve a crabbing cage after having been fishing with his friends during the day. At approximately 6:29 p.m., a friend noticed he could not locate Koga’s kayak from his place on the shore.
He was reported to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office to be missing while his other friends searched the bay waters for him. An intensive search was completed by multiple first responders, including the Marin County Fire Department, the Marin County Dive team, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office sUAS team, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Despite extensive search efforts, the subject was not located, and search efforts were suspended.
On Feb. 1 at approximately 4:15 p.m., Koga was recovered by a volunteer aquatic search group, California Recovery Divers, approximately100 yards from the shore of Lawson’s Landing. He was transported to the Lawson’s Landing Campground and death was confirmed by paramedics. The volunteer recovery group had been searching Tomales Bay since early that morning.
A forensic postmortem examination with routine toxicology testing was expected to be completed on Feb. 3. The cause and manner of death will be pending the conclusion of the investigations being completed by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office-Coroner Division.
No further information will be released by the Coroner Division at this time, as this is an active and ongoing investigation. Any further questions regarding the incident should be directed to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.
The Marin County Sheriff ‘s office and personnel of the Coroner Division offer sincerest condolences to Koga’s family and friends, and heartfelt gratitude to all searchers, including California Recovery Divers, for bringing Koga home to his family.
Koga, who would have turned 40 on Feb. 16, worked for PG&E GC Gas in Oakland and was a member of IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) 1245. He is survived by two children; his wife passed away in 2021. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support the family. https://www.gofundme.com/f/Clinton-Koga