Local News in Brief : Seal Beach : Coroner Ruling Delayed in Death of Detective
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The exact cause of death for a 43-year-old Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective whose body was found floating off Seal Beach was deferred “several weeks,” pending laboratory analysis of tissue and blood samples, authorities said Monday.
“We won’t have anything for at least a couple of weeks,” said Robert Dambacher, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
However, police do not suspect foul play in the death of Sgt. Gary L. Bontrager of Huntington Beach, a 22-year veteran of the department, they said.
Bontrager’s body was found 3 1/2 miles off Seal Beach without a life jacket Sunday morning, 14 hours after his unmanned sailboat ran aground on the beach with its engine still running.
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