Montana man found drowned off Mendocino County coast

A 70-year-old Montana man was found dead off the coast of Mendocino County Sunday afternoon, about an hour after his family reported him missing.

A search party found Robert William Frost in the ocean around 3:35 p.m., about 3,000 feet southwest of the beach at Van Damme State Park where he was last seen alive, according to a news release from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.

Frost’s family reported him missing around 2:14 p.m. and told California State Parks rangers that he was last seen near the ocean. Rangers searched the area and the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department searched the water with watercraft.

After the search party found Frost near the “outer reef,” they took him to Big River Beach, where he was pronounced dead.

The Mendocino County Medical Examiner found no evidence of foul play. The medical examiner is still investigating Frost’s cause of death.

Reach staff writer Madison Smalstig at [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.