San Francisco man ID’d among 2 dead in Tomales Bay

A San Francisco man has been identified as one of the two men who were found dead at popular tourism destination Tomales Bay, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.

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The man was identified as 36-year-old Casey Flynn Melia, a resident of San Francisco. He was found on Sunday less than 14 hours after he and a companion set off in a canoe in search of bioluminescence.

The Marin County Fire Department reported the two were camping at White Gulch Beach when they took a canoe and entered the bay late Saturday night. 

At 10:45 a.m. Sunday, the department received a call that two people were missing and immediately initiated air and water rescue. The U.S. Coast Guard was also alerted around 11 a.m. about the two missing men and sent out air assets to help with the search.

After nearly three hours of searching, rescue personnel from the Marin County Fire Department found both men deceased by 1:30 p.m. Both were wearing life vests, according to the department. 

Melia was found unresponsive near Hog Island and taken to Sacramento Landing, where he was pronounced dead by first responders. The other individual has not been named by officials. He was discovered in the water and transferred to Bodega Bay, where he was declared deceased.

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The Marin County Sheriff’s Office and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office have taken over the investigation into the deaths. 

The cause of death is still pending, and a post-mortem examination and routine toxicology test are scheduled for later this week.

Tomales Bay is a popular spot for swimming, kayaking and canoeing thanks to its picturesque scenery and relatively calm waters compared with the nearby Pacific Ocean. But the bay’s frigid water can be dangerous even for those with life vests. 

The National Park Service warns that even in summer months, the water rarely ventures above 68 degrees, which is considered cold. At cold temperatures, even people with flotation devices are at risk for hypothermia and have only about 10 minutes to self-rescue from frigid waters before they lose control of their limbs. After an hour, those in cold water are at risk of becoming hypothermic and losing consciousness.

This news story has been updated.