CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A local man known for carrying a Japanese sword with him everywhere drowned in Clear Lake after falling out of his kayak while on the way to an island to practice his swordsmanship.



The body of Kenneth Anthony Jacintho, 30, of Clearlake was recovered on Monday, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.



Brooks said Jacintho was reported missing on Sept. 2 after falling out of his kayak in the water off of Clearlake.



At about 6:15 p.m. that day Central Dispatch received a call about a boating accident that occurred offshore of Austin Beach, Brooks said.



Brooks said the report came in from a 16-year-old female who had been in the boat with Jacintho.



The teen told authorities that she and Jacintho – who she identified as her swordsmanship teacher – had launched a small kayak from Austin Beach, Brooks said.



The two were headed toward “Sunflower Island,” which Brooks said is another name for Monitor Island. Maps show that the island is about three miles away from the beach.



Brooks said they were paddling in a northwest direction when the kayak got turned sideways by wind-driven waves. The waves then knocked both Jacintho and the teenager into the water.



They tried to swim toward the kayak but Brooks said the wind blew it away from them.



As Jacintho was trying to get to the kayak, he yelled “No!” and disappeared under the water, based on the teenager’s report to authorities, Brooks said.



Brooks said the teen then swam to shore and reported the accident. Sgt. Andy Davidson, who heads up the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol, already was in the area and coordinated the search for Jacintho ahead of the arrival of another Marine Patrol member, Sgt. Dennis Ostini.



The Northshore Dive Team responded and assisted with the search, according to Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos.



Beristianos said the team made a dive looking for Jacintho but only found a tree that on the sonar resembled a body with the arms up.



Brooks said shortly after 9 a.m. Monday a woman who was out kayaking saw Jacintho’s body floating in the water off of Austins Beach and called to report it.



Ostini got to the scene just after 9:30 a.m. and found Jacintho 400 feet off of Austins Beach, Brooks said.



During the search Jacintho's kayak also was recovered. Brooks said it had two samurai swords – also known as katanas – strapped to it.



Lt. Tim Celli, acting chief of the Clearlake Police Department, said Jacintho was known for carrying a sword with him everywhere around the city.



Jacintho also went by the name “Kairo Seijuro,” which is how the teenager who reported the boating accident referred to him, according to the sheriff’s office report.



Under the Seijuro name, he was profiled by an Arizona television station in 2012 after a video surfaced of him breaking up a fight on a light rail train by wielding his sword at some of the combatants.



However, his claims of having studied swordsmanship in Japan were questioned in a number of online videos and forums by martial arts practitioners.



He moved from Arizona to Clearlake in 2014, according to posts on his Facebook page.



Brooks said Jacintho's cause of death is pending autopsy results.



Jacintho’s drowning is the fifth on Clear Lake this year, all of them occurring since the Memorial Day weekend, Brooks said.



All of the drowning victims were men, four of them having been boating shortly before their deaths occurred.



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