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Man found dead in portable toilet in Golden Gate Park, authorities say

A man was found dead in a portable toilet about a mile and a half east of Outside Lands on Sunday.

Crime scene police tape is visible across an image with shadowy figures in an interior doorway.
A man was found dead in a portable toilet Sunday about a mile and a half east of Outside Lands. | Source: Adobe Stock

A man was found dead Sunday afternoon in a portable toilet about a mile and a half east of Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park, authorities confirmed to The Standard.

The San Francisco Fire Department said dispatchers got a call at 1:04 p.m. about an unconscious person inside a mobile lavatory at 70 Nancy Pelosi Drive, between the handball courts and the California Academy of Sciences.

“The door was locked and the caller was unable to open the door,” according to SFFD Lt. Mariano Elias.

Fire crews arrived with an ambulance, determined that the person was dead and called the San Francisco Police Department.

“It is unknown how or why this person became this way and unknown if they were attending the festival,” Elias continued in an email to The Standard.

SFPD said officers responded to the fire department’s call about 15 minutes later, at 1:17 p.m. When they arrived at the toilet by the handball courts, per SFPD, they found an unconscious man who had already been declared dead by medics.

Police say they don’t suspect foul play but urge anyone with information to contact inspectors at (415) 575-4444 or by texting a message that begins with “SFPD” to TIP411.

This marks the second year a body was found just outside the city’s marquee arts and music festival.

On Aug. 13, 2023, a woman was found dead in a duffel bag at Fulton Street and 22nd Avenue.

Authorities identified her as Kelly Koike, a 37-year-old Castro Valley native and aspiring chef who struggled with mental illness and had wound up on the streets of San Francisco.

Three months later, police arrested two people in connection with her death.

Jennifer Wadsworth can be reached at jennifer@sfstandard.com
George Kelly can be reached at gkelly@sfstandard.com