Sonoma Sheriff's Helicopter Crew Helps Recover 2 Bodies From Water

BAY AREA, CA — A helicopter crew with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office helped pull a bridge jumper from the water Friday night while en route to help another local law enforcement agency recover a body.

Around 6 p.m. Friday, the Henry-One crew received a request from the San Mateo North County Fire Authority and the Pacifica Police Department for help recovering a body from the ocean in a rugged, rocky area near Aramai Point. Fire and police personnel traversed the rocks during low tide to access the area, however, the wet rocks presented a high risk of injury to the local personnel if they decided to try and carry the body out through the wet rocks.

At 6:15 p.m., as Henry-One was headed toward Pacifica, there was a dispatch from the Marin County Communications Center about a water rescue at Golden Gate Bridge. Dispatchers said a person who jumped off the bridge was last seen in the water 4 minutes prior to the dispatch.

Within 30 seconds, the Henry-One crew found the person in the water. They did not appear conscious and the outgoing tide was pulling the body toward the ocean. Henry-One hovered above until a nearby Coast Guard motor lifeboat was able to respond.

After the Coast Guard pulled the jumper from the water and pronounced the person dead, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office responded to handle the death investigation.

Meanwhile, the Henry-One crew continued toward Pacifica. Upon arrival, the crew landed and prepared a 100-foot-long line to recover the body.

The tactical flight officer was lowered to the site where the body was already packaged in a traverse rescue stretcher.

The officer and the stretcher were lifted to a nearby parking lot where local coroner's officials took custody of the body.

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