{"id":4950,"date":"2026-07-25T20:38:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4950"},"modified":"2026-07-25T20:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:38:03","slug":"sheriffs-office-confirms-that-hiker-found-in-california-forest-died-of-alcohol-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4950","title":{"rendered":"Sheriff\u2019s office confirms that hiker found in California forest died of alcohol withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Monterey County Sheriff\u2019s Office says a hiker found dead in a California national forest in April died due to alcohol withdrawal seizures.<\/p>\n

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Victim Joanna Shields, 37, was found dead near the Sykes Hot Springs inside Los Padres National Forest, 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles, on April 9. At the time, the sheriff\u2019s office said her death was \u201csuspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Monterey County Sheriff-Coroner Tina Nieto released her findings in the case, determining that Shields died naturally from \u201cprobable alcohol withdrawal seizures due to chronic alcohol use disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sheriff\u2019s office also mentioned previous media reports of witnesses who described seeing possible signs of strangulation on Shields as well as signs of an injury to her forehead.<\/p>\n

Ms. Nieto found that the markings on the decedent\u2019s body were \u201cconsistent with postmortem insect activity\u201d and that the injury on her forehead was superficial.<\/p>\n

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A person who was with Shields prior to her death, whom the sheriff\u2019s office did not name, cooperated with the investigation, which has concluded.<\/p>\n

Hiker John Heerema told Monterey Bay\u2019s KSBW in April that the man who was with Shields looked \u201cscared, nervous, like shocked, his face just, like, numb and dull.\u201d<\/p>\n

His brother Luke Heerema, who was also at the scene, told the TV station that the man told them that \u201cshe went to the bathroom. She was cleaning herself off in the river around 10:30 a.m., and he went looking for her and then just saw her face down in the water, naked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sheriff\u2019s office said it \u201cfound no evidence during the forensic examination or throughout the investigation to indicate that Ms. Shields was the victim of a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office says a hiker found dead in a California national forest in April died due to alcohol withdrawal seizures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,6],"tags":[2833,2835,2834],"class_list":["post-4950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","tag-joanna-shields","tag-los-padres-national-forest","tag-monterey-county-sheriffs-office"],"yoast_head":"\nSheriff\u2019s office confirms that hiker found in California forest died of alcohol withdrawal - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sheriff\u2019s office confirms that hiker found in California forest died of alcohol withdrawal - 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