The Region - News from Sept. 24, 1987

It remains a mystery as to what caused the death of a Southern California lawyer and solo ocean sailor, whose decomposed body was discovered in the cabin of his yacht in the middle of the Pacific in July. The Honolulu Medical Examiner has closed the investigation into the case of Manning Eldridge, 42, of Garden Grove, with the cause of death officially undetermined. “The body almost completely skeletonized,” Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Flynn said. There was no evidence of injury and no trace of drugs, she said. There was still food and water aboard the yacht when it was found July 26 by a passing fishing vessel, she said. Eldridge left Tahiti Jan. 8 in his 41-foot sloop, Marara.