UCSF doctor found dead off hiking trail on Mt. Tamalpais identified

MARIN, Calif. -- A hiker who was found dead off a trail near Phoenix Lake on Mount Tamalpais on Wednesday has been identified by the Marin County coroner's

office as University of California at San Francisco doctor Julian Thomas Parer, 81, of Kentfield.

Parer told his family he would be hiking near Phoenix Lake when he left his residence with his Australian Shepherd dog between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Harris said.

Another hiker in that area came upon Parer's dog and discovered his body 50 feet down a ravine off Hidden Meadow Trail near the lake when he searched for the dog's owner, Harris said.

Paramedics with the Ross Valley Fire Department found Parer unresponsive and pronounced him dead around 6 p.m., Harris said.

There is no immediate indication of foul play and an autopsy will determine the cause and manner of Parer's death, according to Harris.

Parer is listed on UCSF's website as a perinatologist at its Women's Health Center at the Parnassus campus in San Francisco, specializing in maternal-fetal medicine and high-risk pregnancies.