Sheriff Looking For Owner Of Home That May Have Been Dumped In The Delta

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) — It's an unusual plea from the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office: asking the public for help locating the person who dumped an entire home in the San Joaquin Delta.

The home, which appears to be either a houseboat or a modular home, is precariously perched partially on land and partially in the water near McDonald Island.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff Office says it was first spotted abandoned at the location Christmas week.

"If it's a houseboat it should not be sinking," Delta regular Dave Donaldson said.

Donaldson says the home is creating a water safety hazard.

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"If a boater is going around the corner, he's not going to expect a home to be floating around, moving around with the tides," Donaldson said.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's office posted a photo of the house to its Facebook page, asking for assistance finding the owner.

"What we heard is that it did float to this area, so we know that it must have been somewhere else previously," San Joaquin Sheriff Deputy Andrea Lopez said. "It is a little bit of a mystery why someone would not go looking for this."

A Delta "whodunit." Who let an entire home float away, leaving this property with no proper address?

The sheriff's office is giving the owner 10 days to come forward before they contract with a salvager to remove the house and dismantle it.