NORTHSHORE – The body of a Lakeport man reported missing early in March has been found.

William Michael Farrell's body was found floating in Clear Lake along the Northshore, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Bauman reported that a motorist traveling eastbound along Highway 20 Thursday just before 11 a.m. saw what he believed to be a body floating in the water just a few feet from the shore between Lucerne and Glenhaven.

After stopping to verify what he saw, the man reported his discovery to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and deputies responded by land and from the lake, Bauman said.

Upon their arrival, Bauman said deputies recovered the body of a white male adult wearing clothing similar to what Farrell was believed to have been wearing when he disappeared several weeks ago.

At the scene deputies located a wallet and and saw that the body had tattoos which positively identified the remains as that of the 49-year-old Farrell, Bauman said.

Farrell had been reported missing on March 8, the day after he embarked in his older 14-foot wooden boat from the Konocti Vista Resort Marina to go to a friend’s house in North Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.

The sheriff's investigation found that Farrell never reached his destination and two days after he was reported missing, the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol recovered his unoccupied partially submerged boat from the lake about 400 feet off of the Buckingham Peninsula.

There were no obvious signs of trauma to the remains found Thursday morning and there were no obvious signs of a collision or other damage to the boat when it was recovered three weeks ago, Bauman said.

The cause of Farrell’s apparent drowning is pending further investigation. Bauman said an autopsy will be scheduled to try and determine the exact manner and cause of his death.

 

 

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