BODY FOUND IN FORRESTER CREEK IDENTIFIED; CAUSE OF DEATH REMAINS A MYSTERY

By Miriam Raftery

May 14, 2016 (El Cajon ) –The County Medical Examiner’s office has identified a decomposing body found in Forrester Creek in El Cajon on January 5^th as Paul Frederick Jones, 50. 

Jones, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, had been reported missing on November 29, 2015 after packing his belongings and leaving Carroll’s Community Care, an assisted living facility for patients with mental illnesses.

TheMedical Examiner used DNA testing to confirm Jones’ identity, but has not been able to locate his family.  His cause of death could not be determined and it remains unknown whether Frederick was dead before he wound up in the water, or if he drowned.

El Cajon Police and San Diego Lifeguard Services responded to a report on January 5^th of a body floating in the stream, which lifeguards retrieved after the body became entangled in branches on the bank.

X-rays found no broken bones and no significant traumatic injuries were present. A toxicology screening found some alcohol in his system,  however alcohol can form after death through fermentation when a body decomposes.  Some medications were also found in his system, but the Medical Examiner’s report indicates it is uncertain if these medications could have contributed to Jones’death due to the state of decomposition when he was found.