(Another) Head Gasket?

Greetings All!

First off, let me say what a great source of information this forum is - I am so glad I found it!
I have been reading all the discussions of EGR cleaning, oil catch can, blown head gaskets etc...

My wife's 2012 V (about 245k miles) had the occasional rattling at startup and I was planning to do the EGR, Intake cleaning and install an oil catch can. Last week the car began making a loud metallic tapping whenever the gas motor started up and would not go away. I pulled the codes, P0300, P0301, P0302 and P0117. I took the intake off and sure enough, a couple of tablespoons milky oil just past the throttle body. I have the valve cover off and valve train looks pretty good - no milky sludge. The plugs look ok, cylinder 1, very slight oil fouling. There is no coolant in the oil. The oil level at the onset of the tapping can not be accurately ascertained - my daughter was using the car at the time and assures me she was checking the oil level.

I am guessing the head gasket is blown only because there is about 3/4" of coolant left in the reservoir. Before I go taking off the head and struggling with the whole timing chain cover ordeal, I want to be assured that the gasket is indeed blown and the tapping wasn't caused by a retardation in the timing due to the EGR passages being 100% clogged in the intake. The smoking gun is the low level of coolant. Is there anything else I can be looking for to be sure the gasket is blown?

Thanks!