|
|
|
|
A Death Valley case to close books on |
|
|
Monday, 25 February 2008 |
|
By Darcy Ellis
Editor 2-23-2008
Death Valley, a remote milieu with a macabre reputation, hides within its millions of acres even more secrets – people and places seemingly swallowed up by the unforgiving landscape with or without the help of outside forces.
And were it not for a fateful fly-by back in December by some military fighter pilots, and subsequent legwork by Inyo County investigators, another of the great valley’s secrets would have gone undetected, and another of its myriad mysteries unsolved.
It was the pilots’ chance sighting of possible wreckage that led sheriff’s investigators and the Inyo County Search and Rescue team to a ravine at the bottom of Father Crowley Point on Dec. 28, where a hunk of metal that was once a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee lay totaled with its driver’s remains nearby.
Based on decomposition levels, Deputy Coroner Jeff Mullenhour estimated the unidentified visitor to Death Valley National Park could have been at the bottom of Father Crowley Point – one of the park’s most visited attractions that is also passed by thousands of vehicles a day in peak season – since about August.
Sgt. Andrew Marsh noted that neither a missing persons nor missing vehicle report had been filed in the prior four months for the deceased or the Cherokee.
On Wednesday, after months of effort to reconcile dental records with a partial jaw bone found at the scene of the wreck, Mullenhour was able to positively identify the driver as Paul Dennis Shea, 66, of Homestead, Fla.
As for how Shea ended up 100 yards below the scenic point, according to Marsh, investigators looked at a wide variety of scenarios and came to the conclusion, along with the deputy coroner, that the death should be ruled accidental.
In order to make a cause-of-death determination on a death certificate, a number of criteria have to be met.
Because of the time element involved in the investigation, “We have no witnesses,” Marsh explained. “We have no one to say, ‘We saw Shea intentionally drive off a cliff or accidentally drive off a cliff.’”
But Marsh did add that “there was a reason why that gentleman was where he was at,” again noting the stringent parameters for cause-of-death rulings.
There’s no telling when, or even if, Shea would have been found were it not for the Edwards Air Force Base pilots, considering family and friends were not looking for him.
The reason for a lack of search or missing person’s report, according to Marsh, is Shea’s penchant for staying out of communication with friends and family for extended periods of time.
“It was not out of the ordinary for this gentleman to go off” on cross-country trips without checking in with loved ones, Marsh said.
In fact, Shea was last seen in late July/early August in Orange, where he was staying at some friends’ house after returning from another jaunt that had taken him across several Western states.
Shea had just lost his job in Florida, which Marsh noted was also not uncommon for Shea, and was believed to be setting out for more sightseeing before heading back home.
According to Shea’s friends in Orange, “nothing seemed out of the ordinary at that time,” Marsh noted.
Inyo investigators were able to piece together Shea’s last-known whereabouts thanks to not only the Orange couple, but also a sister in Massachusetts, who “assisted tremendously” in the investigation, Marsh said.
Investigators were able to preliminarily identify Shea and were led to his friends and family members by evidence collected at the scene of the wreckage, which included vehicle registration, letters, bills and even the names of the friends in Orange.
Shea, whose remains will be returned home to Florida where family members are making necessary arrangements, leaves behind a son in Florida and a daughter in Southern California.
|
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 31 March 2008 )
|
|
|
|
