Body Found on the Sand in Venice Beach

The body of a man who apparently fell out of an inflatable boat washed up on Venice Beach today.

A coroner’s spokesman said the man apparently fell out of a inflatable boat near the mouth of Marina Del Rey, and his body washed up near Topsail Court. An autopsy will determine the cause of death, coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.

The body was reported to authorities about 1:45 p.m. The man was declared dead on the spot.

Though the weather was unusually warm, it was foggy along the coast. The water and air temperature was about the same -- about 64 degrees.

Sheriff’s deputies with the Harbor Patrol will handle the investigation, a department spokeswoman said.

A inflatable boat was found nearby, but authorities declined to say what clue it might have held.

• City News Service