Found Deceased CA - Vincent Soto, 40, *Father Found Dead in Lake Mendocino* June 2019

[Gardener1850]

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday that the body of Carlos Soto, 62, of Laytonville, had been found in Lake Mendocino and that there is currently a missing person investigation for his son, Vincent Soto, 40, also from Laytonville.

Carlos and Vincent Soto had gone fishing on Lake Mendocino together on Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office said. The cause of death has not been determined, but there were no obvious signs of foul play, the Sheriff’s Office said.

On June 11, around 6:10 p.m., the MCSO was told that a body had been found floating in the water at the southeast end of Lake Mendocino. It was also reported that a boat, without any persons aboard, was also found in the immediate area. The reporting party indicated he’d observed the boat unattended, with no one aboard, so he went to investigate and saw the body in the water.

Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies responded to the area and with the assistance of personnel from the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, found and recovered the body of Carlos Soto approximately 50 yards away from the boat. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

Read More: Body of missing Northern California man found at Lake Mendocino; son still missing

 

[Gardener1850]

Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies responded to the area and, with the assistance of personnel from the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, located and recovered the body of a deceased male adult approximately 50 yards away from the boat, according to Barney.

Barney said identification in the boat was used to identify the decedent as Carlos Soto, 62 years of age, out of Laytonville.

The cause of death in this case has not been determined but there were no obvious signs of foul play being involved. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, Barney said.

During this investigation a second wallet with identification and cellular telephone were also located inside the boat. Barney said the wallet and phone belonged to Vincent Soto, Carlos Soto’s son.

Deputies were able to contact family members and they learned that Carlos and Vincent Soto had gone fishing on Lake Mendocino and should still be together. Deputies also located the missing man’s vehicle with a boat trailer at the North Boat Ramp of Lake Mendocino, Barney said.

With the the two men having planned a day out together on the lake, a missing persons investigation was initiation related to Vincent Soto. Barney said an initial search of the lake showed no signs of where Vincent Soto might be.

Sheriff's deputies contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team who initiated a search by boat and by ground using divers and a side scan sonar system used to search under water. Barney said search teams will also be searching the shoreline of the lake.

https://www.lakeconews.com/index.ph...-mendocino-search-under-way-for-his-adult-son

 

[Gardener1850]

Vincent Soto (pictured below) is described as being 5’09” tall, weighing approximately 190 pounds, with “salt and pepper” colored hair that is cut short. He is clean shaven and when last contacted by relatives, around 1300 hours on June 12, was shirtless and thought to be wearing blue denim cargo type shorts and possibly red (low top) style tennis shoes, possibly made by Nike. Family members said he has three tattoos; “One Love” on his chest that is multicolored, an English Mastiff on his left shoulder and a Native American with feathers on his right shoulder.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Dispatch Center at 707-463-4086.

[UPDATE 5:14 p.m.] One Laytonville Man Dead, One Missing in Boating Accident

 

[NervousNellie]

Vincent Soto (pictured below) is described as being 5’09” tall, weighing approximately 190 pounds, with “salt and pepper” colored hair that is cut short. He is clean shaven and when last contacted by relatives, around 1300 hours on June 12, was shirtless and thought to be wearing blue denim cargo type shorts and possibly red (low top) style tennis shoes, possibly made by Nike. Family members said he has three tattoos; “One Love” on his chest that is multicolored, an English Mastiff on his left shoulder and a Native American with feathers on his right shoulder.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Dispatch Center at 707-463-4086.

[UPDATE 5:14 p.m.] One Laytonville Man Dead, One Missing in Boating Accident

I know it could just be the usual bad reporting, but this article says the dad’s body was found around 6pm on June 11, but the son was last in contact with family around 1pm on June 12. ??

 

[Gardener1850]

I know it could just be the usual bad reporting, but this article says the dad’s body was found around 6pm on June 11, but the son was last in contact with family around 1pm on June 12. ??

I couldn't make sense of that either, so I left the day off the title.

 

[NervousNellie]

I couldn't make sense of that either, so I left the day off the title.

The article linked in post #1 (now?) has both of the dates listed as June 11. So, assuming that is accurate (since that seems a much more credible source) Tuesday, June 11, they went fishing, and family must've face-timed with Vincent around 1 (which is how they know what he was wearing), and then the dad was found later that day around 6pm. Autopsy was supposed to be done Thursday, but I can't find any updates other than this little snippet: Search continues for missing man in Mendocino County after father's body found.

ETA: MOO

 

[NervousNellie]

Most recent report I can find is from Friday. They searched land with no success and are now focusing on the lake: Search continues for missing fisherman at Lake Mendocino

What a tragedy for this family.

 

[TatianaBarbie]

Vincent's FB page:

Vincent Soto

His friends are very sad about Vincent, and I'm sure the family suffering from this double tragedy.

 

[PastTense]

"July 11, 2019. Authorities were unsuccessful on Wednesday in their search to try and find Vincent Soto, 40, of Laytonville, who was first reported missing at Lake Mendocino on June 11 while on a fishing trip.

The Wednesday search for Soto was near an outlet structure in the lake at the base of Coyote Valley Dam. The search involved lowering the flow of water out of Lake Mendocino that goes into the Russian River from 125 cubic feet per second (CFS) on Monday to close to zero CFS by Wednesday afternoon. The Army Corps of Engineers brought the CFS down close to zero so that they could quickly search the area while there was no current. They decided to lower the CFS to zero for only a few minutes so that it doesn’t harm fish in the area...

In addition to divers, the MCSO used an underwater robot from the Marin County sheriff’s department to try and find Soto. The area they searched is only about 15 feet wide and nine feet high and doesn’t take long to search without water. The issue was that there was near-zero visibility in that specific area with water, and the robot searching underwater was having trouble, leading to the slowing of the flow of water...

“We thought at this point under most circumstances, people that go down under in this warmer water, they come up within two to three weeks, and he hasn’t come up,” Barney said. Because he is not there, the plan is to search other areas of interest around the lake at a different time to look at areas they haven’t had a chance to search yet. The Marin County dive team also checked various spots around Lake Mendocino on Wednesday."
Underwater robot search at Lake Mendocino fails to find missing man – Lake County Record-Bee

 

[TatianaBarbie]

"July 11, 2019. Authorities were unsuccessful on Wednesday in their search to try and find Vincent Soto, 40, of Laytonville, who was first reported missing at Lake Mendocino on June 11 while on a fishing trip.

The Wednesday search for Soto was near an outlet structure in the lake at the base of Coyote Valley Dam. The search involved lowering the flow of water out of Lake Mendocino that goes into the Russian River from 125 cubic feet per second (CFS) on Monday to close to zero CFS by Wednesday afternoon. The Army Corps of Engineers brought the CFS down close to zero so that they could quickly search the area while there was no current. They decided to lower the CFS to zero for only a few minutes so that it doesn’t harm fish in the area...

In addition to divers, the MCSO used an underwater robot from the Marin County sheriff’s department to try and find Soto. The area they searched is only about 15 feet wide and nine feet high and doesn’t take long to search without water. The issue was that there was near-zero visibility in that specific area with water, and the robot searching underwater was having trouble, leading to the slowing of the flow of water...

“We thought at this point under most circumstances, people that go down under in this warmer water, they come up within two to three weeks, and he hasn’t come up,” Barney said. Because he is not there, the plan is to search other areas of interest around the lake at a different time to look at areas they haven’t had a chance to search yet. The Marin County dive team also checked various spots around Lake Mendocino on Wednesday."
Underwater robot search at Lake Mendocino fails to find missing man – Lake County Record-Bee

Thanks for finding that update, @PastTense! I hope that Vincent can be found soon, and returned to his family.

 

[Darling136]

Body of Vincent Soto found at Lake Mendocino – The Ukiah Daily Journal

Found deceased