The cause of death for a 40-year old homeless man who was discovered Saturday along the banks of the Animas River will likely come down to toxicology tests, La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith said Wednesday.

Randy Shaw, better known by his traveling name “Kansas,” was found on the west bank of the river downstream of the Main Avenue bridge along West Park Avenue.

Shaw’s body was discovered in a sleeping bag, covered in brush near the river’s edge around 2:30 p.m. by a worker at a West Park Avenue home.

Smith said initial evidence indicates Shaw’s body had been at the location for “probably a week or so.”

“He was at that spot,” she said. “He had not washed up or anything.”

Smith said there were no signs of obvious trauma that would indicate any foul play, and the cause of death should be known in a couple of weeks, after extensive toxicology tests are completed.

“We’ll find out when it comes back,” she said.

Shaw, a Kansas native, had been traveling the country as a “hippie hobo” since the early 2000s, according to family members. He also suffered from alcohol and drug addictions.

Manna Soup Kitchen manager Thomas Bentley said he had seen Shaw a couple of times in the past few weeks, but he was not a regular at the soup kitchen in Durango.

Alysha Sherman, Shaw’s ex-girlfriend, said Shaw left Boulder in April to head west, which likely explains why he stopped in Durango. Sherman and Shaw separated in March and had not communicated since.

As of Wednesday, there were no developments in the search for Shaw’s pit-bull mix, Johlene. According to a clerk at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Shaw impounded Johlene and reclaimed her in early April.

Shaw’s family has said they would like to recover Johlene as a means of remembering him.

jromeo@durangoherald.com