The body found in Rancho San Antonio County Park Jan. 16 has been identified as the man reported missing last May 22.
The body of Henry Roginski, 49, a former Los Altos resident, was spotted by two hikers about 3:45 p.m. Jan. 16 when they saw a foot extending from a thicket of poison oak, said Sgt. Jim Arata with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's office.
The body was in a bush about 300 yards off the path, Arata said.
The cause of death is "undetermined," said a spokeswoman with the coroner's office, because of the extent to which the body had deteriorated. But it was "probably due to natural causes," she said. The coroner's office has released the body to the family.
"There is no evidence of foul play," Arata said.
Roginsky, a self-employed building contractor, was first reported missing to the Santa Clara Police Department in May.
He liked to go up the PG&E trail to the top and enjoy the views, said Sgt. Phil Zaragoza, of the Santa Clara Police Department, who was investigating Roginsky's disappearance.
Before moving to Santa Clara in March 1997, Roginsky had lived in Los Altos on Jordan Avenue. His black BMW was found in the parking lot of the county park, which is entered from Cristo Rey Drive in Los Altos and located west of Highway 280 above Los Altos.
After an exhaustive hunt last May throughout the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve as well as the Rancho San Antonio County Park, more than 50 searchers found no trace of Roginsky, Arata said.
Once the body was located eight months later, in the center of a large, thick clump of poison oak, some thought that "by the way he positioned himself he didn't want to be found," Arata said.
Now, with the poison oak beginning to lose its leaves, during its dormant season, the body could be seen in the bush.
Roginsky was an insulin-dependent diabetic. Some suggested he had been despondent prior to his disappearance.
But Zaragoza, who had been investigating the disappearance, "ruled out suicide." If it were suicide, Roginsky would not have taken along his insulin and syringes, Zaragoza said.
"He had granola bars. He had insulin in a cold pack. He was well prepared," Zaragoza said. "He laid down, with his backpack next to him. He may have gone into a coma." Zaragoza said he believes the death was accidental.
The week before his disappearance he had sold four homes he had built in Mountain View.
Roginsky is survived by his wife, a son and his father.