Mystery surrounds cause of death of Moraga man, found in creek near Walnut Creek high school

The Contra Costa County Coroner's Office says that a final ruling on how Adam Milford, 47, wound up dead in a creek near the entrance of Las Lomas High School Wednesday won't be due for eight to 10 weeks.

Milford was found at about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday by someone passing by the school whose entrance is at South Main Street, near Kaiser Permanente medical center. His body was apparently below the bridge entrance to the high school that crosses San Ramon Creek.

Police say there were no obvious signs of trauma or foul play to the body, and the Coroner's Office declined to say whether he possibly fell off the bridge, or he somehow climbed down the steep bank, slipped into the water, and drowned.  The Coroner's Office typically takes that amount of time to perform tests on body tissues, including toxicology tests. 

Also being looked at by police are reports from KTVU, attributed to Milford's father, that his son--who worked as a welder--"had problems standing since he recently fell and hit his head."

Wilford's father told KTVU that "his son checked himself out of Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek early Wednesday morning where paramedics had taken him for a blood transfusion. The hospital is less than a block away from Las Lomas High School. The hospital and police said they were not certain what happened to Milford after that."

However, some Las Lomas students who were on campus Tuesday night, even though it is closed for winter break, suggested the body might have been in the creek overnight. They told the Contra Costa Times that they thought they saw what looked like a manequin in the creek on Tuesday night.

Body found in creek near Las Lomas High ID'ed as 47-year-old Moraga man who had been reported missing

The Contra Costa County Coroner's Office has identified the body found in San Ramon Creek, near Las Lomas High, as Adam Milford, 47, of Moraga.

The Coroner's Office said the cause of death is still being investigated. 

According to various news reports, a passerby discovered the body at about 8:15 a.m. near the school's entrance at 1460 South Main Street. Lt. Mark Perlite said there were no obvious signs of why the man died, and police told Las Lomas High Principal Pat Lickiss that it doesn't immediately appear that the man died of foul play.

Walnut Creek police issued a press release Wednesday afternoon, indicating that Milford had been reported missing out of Moraga on Tuesday. And again, police said in this release, that "there were no obvious signs of trauma or foul play to the body."

The autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.