The Coroner’s Unit of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office identified 33-year-old Francisco Javier Velasco Garcia as the man who fell off a cliff at Pirate’s Cove near Avila Beach and died Wednesday.
Velasco Garcia was from Nipomo.
According to witnesses, Velasco Garcia had been sitting on the cliff overlooking the water Wednesday and, when he got up to leave, he lost his footing, slipped backward and fell approximately 200 feet to the cliffs below, sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla said. The incident occurred around 6 p.m.
Sheriff’s deputies, Cal Fire and Harbor Patrol responded to the scene to begin a rescue operation. Cipolla said when they arrived Velasco Garcia had no pulse, was not breathing and was pronounced dead at the scene.
At this time, the death appears to be accidental, Cipolla said, adding an autopsy will be conducted to determine manner and cause of death.