Cedar Creek Trailhead Suicide Name not Released

The name of the man whose body was found at the Cedar Creek Falls trailhead in Ramona last week has not been released by the County Medical Examiner's Office. A spokeswoman told Patch Thursday that staff are not sure yet if they have contacted the legal next of kin. However, they have ascertained that the man was 27 years old. The town of residence is yet to be determined.

Three hikers found the man hanging from a shade structure at the trailhead on April 20 and called the Sheriff's Department, according to Sheriff's Lt. Julie Sutton of the Ramona substation. She told Patch that the body appeared to have "been there a while." The death has been deemed a suicide.

Forest Service staff responded to the trailhead when the body was found, Sutton told Patch. The trailhead remains closed since the last summer at the Falls. The hike is accessed from Thornbush Road in San Diego Country Estates. Access from the Julian side .

The Forest Service is proposing a permit system for hikers entering from the Ramona side of the trail. The system is proposed because of the numerous rescues of hikers who have become dehydrated or had accidents at the Falls or on the trail. about the trash and inebriated people visiting the area.

Forest Service staff are monitoring the Ramona trailhead daily, spokesman Brian Harris told Patch. Staff are driving there and physically checking the facilities, he said, however no one is stationed at the site.

"We have thousands of recreational areas and we would not have the personnel to have someone stationed there all the time," he said. "Also, we don't feel that it's necessary to do so."