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The body of an unidentified man was found floating in the bay Tuesday morning near the rocks along West Frontage Road about one-quarter mile south of University Avenue. 

The Harbormaster at the Berkeley Marina received a call from police about 9:30 a.m. requesting a harbor patrol boat to transport the body from that location and take it to a public dock where it could be removed from the water. 

Crime Scene Unit officers were present at the dock, along with a Berkeley Fire Department truck and an ambulance. 

Lt. Russell Lopes said a fisherman had discovered the body “half in the rocks and half in the water,” earlier in the morning. The man is described as an African-American male in his mid-20s, about 6 feet tall and well-dressed in blue jeans, a shirt, and work boots in good condition. 

The police department’s homicide detail is working on the case, said Lopes, although at present they don’t know if a crime was committed. 

“Now it’s a suspicious death,” he said. 

The dead man could have been a fisherman washed up from San Francisco, although he wasn’t dressed like one, he said. 

“He could have been put into the water anywhere in the bay. It depends upon the currents and the tides,” Lopes said. 

The man had been in the water less than three days, said Alameda County Deputy Coroner Charles Brewer. 

There are no knife or bullet wounds in the man’s body and his death may not be the result of foul play, but it will be investigated unless evidence indicates otherwise. 

Brewer said the man could have fallen or jumped into the bay. Fingerprints and missing person reports are the primary leads that the coroner’s office can use to help identify him. 

Anyone with information about the victim or this incident is asked to call East Bay Regional Park District Detective Ron Anderson at (510) 544-3105 or King at (510) 881-3103.