The body of a North Kitsap woman was recovered from the shore of the Port Washington Narrows in Bremerton last Saturday.

According to Deputy Scott Wilson, spokesperson for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, the woman was identified as 53-year-old Melanie McCarroll. A longtime North Kitsap resident, McCarroll had been reported missing just a day earlier by her husband who said he had last seen her at the Point Casino in Hansville, Wilson said.

Around 7:40 p.m. responders were advised that a kayaker had noticed what appeared to be a body on the shore along the Port Washington Narrows. After arriving at the scene, deputies deployed an unmanned aerial system to better assess the scene. Deputies confirmed the presence of a body on the shore and officials with the Bremerton Fire Department recovered the body, Wilson said.

After a positive identification had been made by the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office, the case was handed over to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office for investigation. Wilson said that KCSO is currently investigating the incident as a death.

“What we have right now is a death investigation,” Wilson said. “We’re not classifying it as anything other than that. The autopsy was performed [Tuesday].”

On Wednesday Kitsap County Coroner Jeff Wallis, stated the cause of death was “saltwater drowning with blunt force injuries to the head, abdomen, and left leg.”

“The investigation’s underway, we’re trying to figure out how and where she went into the water,” Wallis added.

According to Wilson, the injuries sustained by McCarroll appear to have resulted from a fall.

“Based on that information the detective went down to the coroner’s office and sat down and met with them [Wednesday] to get some further information on this,” Wilson said. “The pathologist believes Melanie’s injuries were the result of a fall and that they were sustained from a single traumatic event.”

“We don’t know what her toxicology results will be but we don’t believe they will change anything about these findings,” Wilson said. “The forensic pathologist knows exactly what he’s doing and what he’s looking at as far as the nature of the injuries.”