SONOMA COUNTY (KRON) — A prominent Sonoma County attorney, Steven Mitchell, 56, of Santa Rosa, who went missing along the Sonoma Coast on Saturday, is believed to have committed suicide.
Mitchell made it clear in the note that he intended to end his life, according to Sgt. Cecile Focha.
Focha would not say when or where the note was found. She said the note and other factors rule out foul play and formal search efforts for Mitchell have been suspended.
Mitchell was reported missing by his wife around 8 p.m. Saturday and was last seen around 9 a.m. Saturday in Santa Rosa, sheriff’s officials said.
His wife called the sheriff’s office again around 7:10 a.m. Sunday to report her husband’s cellphone was last used in the Bodega Bay area, the sheriff’s office said.
A sheriff’s deputy stationed on the Sonoma Coast and State Parks rangers began a search and Mitchell’s car was found parked and unoccupied on Carlevaro Way in Bodega Bay around 8 p.m. Sunday.
There was nothing suspicious about the scene where the vehicle was found and foul play is not suspected in his disappearance, the sheriff’s office said. The missing person’s case was turned over to the Violent Crimes Investigation unit as part of standard protocol, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s deputy on the Sonoma Coast searched again Monday, but an active search has been suspended, Sgt. Cecile Focha said.
According to a sheriff’s sergeant, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office was no longer actively searching as of Tuesday morning.
Mitchell was a member of the law firm Geary, Shea, O’Donnell, Grattan & Mitchell of Santa Rosa. He represented Sonoma County in the civil rights violation lawsuit filed by the parents of Andy Lopez who was fatally shot by sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus on Oct. 22, 2013.