The El Dorado County coroner on Friday confirmed that a body found in the El Dorado National Forest on Aug. 4 is that of a missing San Francisco teacher, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s officials said the body is that of 45-year-old Edward Cavanaugh who was a teacher at San Francisco’s Downtown High School. Searchers working with Cavanaugh’s family to locate him found the body Aug. 4 in the El Dorado National Forest off a trail west of Slate Mountain.
Sheriff’s officials said a forensic odontologist made the identification by comparing Cavanaugh’s dental records with the jawbones found where the body lay.
The coroner has not released the cause of death, but Cavanaugh suffered from a medical condition, sheriff’s officials said.
Cavanaugh went missing July 17 when he separated from a person he was riding motorcycles with, sheriff’s officials said. A search for Cavanaugh started a week later and involved 250 or more people and a wide range of equipment, sheriff’s officials said.
The California National Guard deployed for the first time a MQ-9 Reaper – a remotely piloted aircraft – in a search and rescue effort, according to the sheriff’s office.
Keith Burbank, Bay City News
