A body and items of clothing have been found on the rocky shoreline of Mendocino County, close to where a woman went missing while camping Friday, authorities say. Due to high surf and stormy conditions, the body has not yet been recovered or officially identified.
Rebecca Jones, 48, was camping with a friend in an area around 10 miles north of Westport, Calif., for the weekend when she walked away from the campground at around 11:30 a.m., the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Jones had no hiking gear, food or water when she was last seen, and reportedly walked toward the Pacific shoreline, around 200 yards from the campsite. She was last seen wearing green pants, a red hoodie sweatshirt, and a black and white hat. A search of the area on Friday night found no evidence of Jones’ whereabouts.
Jones, who is diabetic, has an insulin pump on her belt. She has “experience hiking in the outdoors but did not inform anyone that she was leaving on a hike,” and cell service is limited in the area, the sheriff’s office said.
On Saturday, a search crew found “Jones’ clothing and a body trapped in some rocks in the ocean near the shoreline,” the statement said. A high surf brought “life-threatening conditions” and waves up to 23 feet to the California coast this weekend. Recovery attempts were put on hold Sunday due to the dangerous surf. The sheriff’s office told SFGATE that personnel are on site Monday morning to check the conditions and determine if a recovery effort can be safely conducted.
“The body is unidentified at this time, but speculation is that the body is that of Jones,” the sheriff’s office said.
