Fleece Cap from Berkeley Hat Store Given to Homeless Man Used To Identify His Skeletal Remains Found in North Bay

By Susan C. Schena

The Marin County coroner had little to work with when a male's skeletal remains were found in early May near Stinson Beach.

The body was in an advanced state of decomposition when found at 11:30 a.m. on May 4 in an open space on the east side of Highway 1, north of Stinson, and unidentifiable by visual means or fingerprint analysis, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office, which worked the case with the National Parks Service.

No one on lists of missing persons matched the decedent, so investigators tried tracking leads from recovered clothing items, authorities said.

Ultimately, it was a fleece cap sold by a Berkeley company and recovered from the scene that led to the identification of the body as Raymond Caravacci, 77, a homeless man from the Stinson Beach area, the coroner's office reported.  

The hat was traced to the Berkeley business where an employee, who lives in the Stinson Beach area, reported having given the cap to a known local homeless person about a year ago, officials said.

Officials did not identify the Berkeley business. 

Further investigation using located dental records confirmed the recipient of this hat and the deceased man was, indeed, Caravacci.

Caravacci had a long history of known homelessness and mental health conditions, and was never reported missing to law enforcement agencies, officials said.

The coroner's division does not suspect foul play at this time, and a cause of death is pending a final forensic anthropological study of the skeletal remains, officials said.