Authorities in Santa Rosa were summoned to a morose scene along the Piner Creek Trail last week when a passerby reported a body, leading to the recovery of a deceased individual from the creek. The Santa Rosa Police Department and Santa Rosa Fire Department responded to the call on November 23, around 8:41 am, with the body being located a short time later. The person, discovered just south of Guerneville Road, has since been identified, according to a news release from the Santa Rosa Police Department.
The deceased was a 64-year-old Santa Rosa resident named William Fowler. As details continue to emerge, Fowler's cause of death remains a point of investigation by the Sonoma County Coroner's Office, which has not yet deemed his passing as suspicious or storm-related, "no foul play is suspected," the Santa Rosa Police Department stated. However, detectives from the SRPD Violent Crimes Investigations Team had been dispatched to the scene early on, an action that typically underscores the gravity of events in such circumstances.
The report of the discovery first came to light through an article by Hoodline, which detailed the initial investigation and efforts to determine the identity of the deceased before Fowler's name was released.
