The body of an East Bay woman was found in a grassy ravine in the old town of Tocaloma last Thursday morning, launching a homicide investigation by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.
Trisha Hopfe, 31, was spotted by a hiker on the Cross Marin Trail, separated by an embankment from Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, about a tenth of a mile north of Turtle Island Restoration Network and half a mile south of Platform Bridge Road.
At the time she was discovered, Ms. Hopfe, who had a son and daughter ages 10 and 5 and lived throughout the East Bay, appeared to have been dead for a couple of days, Lieutenant Jamie Scardina of the sheriff’s investigative division said. She was at least partially naked and displayed suspicious injuries that did not include gunshot wounds. Investigators are interviewing witnesses but have not announced any suspects.
On Friday a passerby reported seeing a blond-haired man in his late 20s or early 30s “in the bushes” near the location where Ms. Hopfe was found at around 9:30 a.m., just 15 minutes before the hiker caught sight of her body. The man’s white pickup had a camper shell and was parked in a turnout. Lt. Scardina said authorities are pursuing that and other leads.
Ms. Hopfe did not frequently post on Facebook, but this spring she seemed to be on the road and out of touch with at least some of her friends. She noted her status at a Best Western, 7-Eleven and casino; her friends responded with pleas to pick up her phone and inform them of her whereabouts. Her father, a career police officer who was paralyzed from the neck down in a fall last year, did not return a request for comment.
This story has been updated from an original version.