Alameda police officers and firefighters recovered the body of a deceased person from the water near Bay Farm Island on Thursday, March 27, according to City officials and a KRON news report.
Officials quoted in the news story said the Alameda Police Department (APD) and Alameda Fire Department (AFD) responded at 9:58 a.m. to a report of the discovery. Alameda Communications & Legislative Affairs Director Sarah Henry confirmed that the call reported what looked like a body in the water near the 2900 block of Harbor Bay Parkway.
“Alameda firefighters retrieved a deceased male body from the water,” Henry said. She noted that no identification was found during the recovery and that City officials “have no additional information” at this time.
The investigation has been turned over to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and Coroner’s Bureau, Henry stated.
Alameda resident Alvin Kan saw the body floating face down in the water between the Business Park and Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal as he was walking along the shoreline on March 27.
“At first when I looked, I thought, ‘Is this for real or is it a dummy?’” he told the Alameda Post. “There were other people on the trail, and I guess no one else saw it, because they didn’t say anything. I thought, ‘It looks real. I better call the cops.’”
He called APD’s main number at 9:53 a.m. “About 10 minutes later I heard sirens,” he said.
Kan gave a statement to the first officer on the scene, explaining he wasn’t sure if the body was real or not. Then he walked the officers and AFD personnel down to the shore where the body was located.
“As we approached the body, one of the firefighters said, ‘Yes, that’s real,’” said Kan. “They examined the body and an officer took my information and told me I was free to go. As I was leaving, they were cordoning off the area.”
“This is an unfortunate situation, finding out that the body was real,” added Kan. “My family is keeping the victim’s family in prayer.”
