“Thank you to our California State Parks rangers who respond to calls for service throughout California’s extensive state parks system.  They respond to crimes, searches, rescues and recoveries.  We thank them for their law enforcement and public safety service which works to protect state park visitors from harm.”

CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

MENDOCINO COUNTY – At 2:14 p.m. on June 30, 2024, California State Parks rangers were dispatched to a missing person who was last seen near the Pacific Ocean at Van Damme State Park in Little River.  The State Parks rangers arrived and contacted family members of Robert William Frost, 70, and learned that Frost was last seen on the beach, near the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

State Parks rangers began to search the immediate area for Frost but were not able to immediately locate him.  Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department personnel arrived to assist State Parks rangers, searching the ocean with their Jet-Skis.  At approximately 3:35 p.m., Frost was located under the surface of the water near the “outer reef,” which is around 3,000 feet southwest of the beach.  Frost was quickly transported to Big River Beach, where a time of death was declared by a Deputy Sheriff-Coroner at 3:48 p.m.

Frost’s family members and legal next-of-kin were contacted and notified of his death. According to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, there was nothing suspicious noted during the coroner’s investigation that would be suggest foul-play.