Fort Bragg cliff fall killed Oklahoma nurse on impact, coroner’s report shows
A registered nurse, rugby player, and former National Guard member from Oklahoma died from the force of the fall he took from a cliff at the end of Bayview Avenue in Fort Bragg. The coroner found injuries consistent with an instantly fatal impact. Based on that, he likely died immediately and did not drown — our interpretation, not the coroner’s language.
Here is our first story, which included an interview with the man whose son found the body:
Body Found by Man and Son While Fishing at Todd Point/Bayview Drive in Fort Bragg
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bjorn Lee Miller was a registered nurse and he was also remembered as a rugby coach, player and friend to all. Aside from confirming that he held an RN license, little else about his circumstances has surfaced. Every life lost matters, and we try to honor people for who they were — and to understand whether their passing carries a cautionary note for the community.
His family has a Go Fund Me for the man who they called “Bear.”
https://www.gofundme.com/f/celebrating-bear-millers-unforgettable-impact
In a very good piece of news among bad news, someone has now closed and blocked off the end of the road, the area where he fell from the cliffs.
The following information comes from a press release provided by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. The release lists the cliff at roughly 70 feet — a number that seems generous to anyone who knows that spot. We’ll print their figure for now and return with a tape measure to get the true height to the water. We’ve gone up and down more cliffs on this coast than we can count, measured a few, and haven’t fallen yet. Wish us luck.
“Bjorn L. Miller, 37, of Yukon, Oklahoma, was found April 11 at the bottom of a steep cliff near the 31000 block of Bay View Avenue, about 70 feet below the clifftop near the Pacific Ocean shoreline. Fort Bragg Fire Department personnel assisted deputies in recovering his remains from the rocks near the waterline.”
In remembrance of the man, however he may have died:
Miller went to Oklahoma City College and Oklahoma State University and lived in Mustang and Stillwater before settling in Yukon, Oklahoma, a town of about 23,000 on the Chisholm Trail where many residents commute to Oklahoma City for work and quality of life. His LinkedIn profile lists him as a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. We called the hospital to verify that, but they do not release employment information.
There is a cautionary tale here. Anyone who knows that spot understands how easy it is to misread the edge, especially at night. If you roll even a few feet past the end of the graveled area, the drop is right there — far closer than it looks. A simple barricade at the end of the gravel could keep others from making the same mistake, and we hope one will be installed.
spot marked by the cone to prevent vehicles from continuing to the edge.
The Sheriff’s Office is not yet calling the manner of death accidental, but they do say there is no evidence of foul play. The information was released as soon as the county coroner confirmed the cause of death: the fall, the rocks below, and the trauma from the impact.
More from the press release:
“An autopsy was performed on 4/15/2026, and the preliminary cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma of the head and trunk, and submersion in ocean water. The manner of death is pending further investigation and will not be released until the Forensic Pathologist completes all investigative reports associated with the autopsy.”
(In other words, if he was intoxicated, suffered a heart attack, or had some other medical issue that led to the fall, the Sheriff’s Office needs more time to determine that — as much as can be understood when a body is recovered from the water.)
We have gathered more details from the scene, but we are choosing not to publish them at this time. They do not shed light on what caused the fall and could unintentionally point readers in the wrong direction.
Anyone with information related to this incident is requested to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at 707-463-4086 (option 1). Information can also be provided anonymously by calling the non-emergency tip-line at 707-234-2100.
On a drive‑by this afternoon, we saw that boulders have been installed at the end of Bayview Drive to keep cars from rolling right up to the cliff. It’s Mother Nature’s guardrail — rough, uneven, and still better than no guardrail at all.
Out there, the stones look like they’ve taken up a watch. As if the land itself shuffled forward in the night, planting its heavy feet between us and the drop. A small rearrangement of the world, saying: this far, and no farther.
