Gold Beach man drowns off of Oregon coast

GOLD BEACH, Ore. -- A Gold Beach resident was found floating in the surf at Nesika Beach Friday morning after a camping trip with the man's roommate, police said.

According to an Oregon State Police report the body of 55-year-old Michael Leindecker was discovered floating just offshore by his roommate. An ambulance attempted to revive Leindecker at the beach before taking him by ambulance to Curry General Hospital, where he later died.

Leindecker, a Gold Beach resident, was camping at Nesika Beach with his male roommate since Wednesday. The men decided to leave Friday morning and separately made multiple trips taking camping gear from the beach to a nearby parking lot. The roommate said that the last time he saw Leindecker on shore they were going in opposite directions; the roommate to their vehicle, Leindecker to the beach.

After close to 15 minutes the roomate made it back to the beach and saw Leindecker floating in the surf. The roommate was unable to retrieve the man from the water so he flagged down a passing driver on the nearby Highway 101. The driver called 9-1-1 and helped the roommate retrieve Leindecker from the surf. They waited until medics arrived to take Leindecker to the hospital, where he later died.