The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department is awaiting an autopsy report to confirm what caused the death of a Glen Ellen woman found Jan. 26 in Austin Creek near Cazadero. The submerged body of Erica Shane, 34, was discovered at about 4 p.m. amid steep terrain just off of Fort Ross Road.
The area, northwest of Guerneville, is about 45 driving miles from Glen Ellen.
A sheriff’s deputy responding to a vehicle irregularly parked along the rural roadway found an unoccupied Subaru Forrester. He then began a search of the Austin Creek area on foot. “The deputy followed a path that led up a steep hillside next to a rapid creek,” reported Lieutenant Chris Spallino. “Approximately 200 yards up the creek, he located a female submerged in the water.”
Shane, a nature lover and triathlete, was born in Santa Rosa and attended Montgomery High School. A resident of Glen Ellen, she was a volunteer for the Wine Country Film Festival.
CPR was performed but Shane was pronounced dead on the scene.
How long she may have been in the water is unknown. Pending the results of Wednesday’s autopsy, Spallino would not speculate on the cause or manner of the death.
Detectives are asking anyone who may have had contact with the victim on Jan. 26 or who may have seen anything suspicious in the area of the 18000 block of Fort Ross Road, Cazadero, to contact Detective James Naugle at 565.2185.
