A Mendocino man died Tuesday after falling from a cliff near Portuguese Beach in Mendocino, authorities said.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the area at approximately 3:38 p.m. after a passerby on Main Street reported seeing a person lying motionless on the beach below, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
The victim, identified as Douglas Craig Shapiro, 65, of Mendocino, was found on the shoreline south of Kasten Street. Deputies, Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Ambulance paramedics, and the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department’s water-rescue team responded to the scene.
The fire department deployed two jet skis from the Big River Boat Launch, reaching Shapiro and preparing him for transport. He was taken to the Big River Beach boat launch by jet ski, where an off-duty emergency room physician performed an assessment and pronounced him dead at 4:32 p.m., officials said.
Deputies observed injuries consistent with a significant fall. A coroner’s investigation determined no foul play was suspected. Shapiro’s cause and manner of death will be confirmed following an autopsy by a forensic pathologist, which could take several months to complete.
Shapiro’s next of kin has been notified, authorities said.
