Sonoma Man Found Dead at Bodega Head

A man found dead at the base of a cliff at Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast Tuesday evening was identified today as Brian Christopher Abel, 58, of Sonoma.

Results of an autopsy conducted this morning are pending toxicology tests, and the county sheriff's office's violent crimes investigator is still investigating the death, a Sonoma County coroner's office spokeswoman said.

Tourists spotted the body and called the sheriff's office around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday, sheriff's Lt. Dennis O' Leary said. The body was retrieved by the sheriff's office's helicopter around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Abel was not among the five people who perished when a yacht crashed during a race off the Farallon Islands earlier this month. The yacht, the was swamped by a huge wave when it came too close to the shore.

On Wednesday, sheriff's officials had said they were going to collaborate with San Francisco police investigators to see what information, such as descriptions or dental records, they had about the sailors still missing from the April 14 crash. San Francisco has jurisdiction over the

One of the yacht's sailors, 46-year-old Marc Kasanin of Belvedere, was found dead in the waters nearby on the day of the crash.

Alexis Busch, of Larkspur; Alan Cahill, of Tiburon; 25-year-old Kentfield resident Jordan Fromm; and Elmer Morrisey, of Ireland, remain lost at sea and are presumed dead.

Information from Bay City News Service