Man Found Dead in Petaluma Was Sporadic Visitor to Homeless Shelter

By Bay City News

The Sonoma County coroner's office has identified the man who was found dead Sunday near a homeless center as 58-year-old Anatolio Magana Barocio of Petaluma.

Police were informed around 2:15 p.m. Sunday about a man's body found on Caulfield Lane near Hopper Street. Detectives who responded and discovered Barocio's body also searched the area. 

The coroner's office recovered the body and an autopsy was conducted Monday. Police said there were no signs of trauma to Barocio.

Barocio was a sporadic, drop-in visitor at the nearby Mary Isaak Center at 900 Hopper St., said Mike Johnson, CEO of the Committee on the Shelterless that runs the shelter. 

The drop-in services provide food and donated clothing, Johnson said. Barocio stayed a few nights at the shelter in April but was not formally in the system. 

The 100-bed emergency shelter for single adults is on the first floor of the three-story center. Residents are tested for drugs and alcohol and the goal is to find them jobs to earn money for housing during their six-month stay.

During the recent cold weather when night temperatures were in the 20s, the center provided 20 floor mats for the homeless and as many as 17 people came in from the cold, Johnson said.

"If we had 50 more adults we would find a way to get them in," Johnson said.

Barocio did not come in from the cold, Johnson said.

"Had he walked to the door he would have shelter," Johnson said. "It's really tragic." 

"We know of 16 people who have died on the streets in Sonoma County. There are more deaths because there are more people out there. When there is a long waiting list for a bed, people lose hope and the mortality rate goes up," Johnson said. 

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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