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NORTH COAST, Calif. – Human remains discovered near Fort Bragg last month have been identified as those of a businesswoman missing since last fall.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said the remains were those of 63-year-old Colleen Murphy of Fort Bragg.
The skeletal remains were discovered on Jan. 13 by a person who had been hiking near the California Pacific Railroad approximately two miles east of Fort Bragg, according to Lt. Greg VanPatten.
On Jan. 23, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Division identified the skeletal remains as Murphy, VanPatten said.
VanPatten said she had last been seen on Oct. 28. One of her employees reported her missing to the Fort Bragg Police Department on Nov. 1.
At the time of Murphy’s disappearance she was noted to be despondent for various reasons and no evidence of foul play was attributed to her disappearance during the missing person’s investigation, VanPatten said.
The results of the investigation conducted by sheriff's detectives were forwarded to the chief deputy coroner, VanPatten said.
Based upon the information collected during the investigation, VanPatten said the chief deputy coroner has classified Murphy's death as being a suicide as a result of a gunshot wound.
Murphy owned the Chapter and Moon restaurant on Noyo Harbor.
Talk about a close shave.
On Friday, Feb. 15, an asteroid about half the size of a football field will fly past Earth only 17,200 miles above our planet’s surface.
There’s no danger of a collision, but the space rock, designated 2012 DA14, has NASA’s attention.
“This is a record-setting close approach,” said Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at JPL. “Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we’ve never seen an object this big get so close to Earth.”
Earth’s neighborhood is littered with asteroids of all shapes and sizes, ranging from fragments smaller than beach balls to mountainous rocks many kilometers wide.
Many of these objects hail from the asteroid belt, while others may be corpses of long-dead, burnt out comets.
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program helps find and keep track of them, especially the ones that come close to our planet.
As for 2012 DA14, it’s a fairly typical near-Earth asteroid. It measures some 50 meters wide, neither very large nor very small, and is probably made of stone, as opposed to metal or ice.
Yeomans estimated that an asteroid like 2012 DA14 flies past Earth, on average, every 40 years, yet actually strikes our planet only every 1,200 years or so.
The impact of a 50-meter asteroid is not cataclysmic – unless you happen to be underneath it.
Yeomans pointed out that a similar-sized object formed the mile wide Meteor Crater in Arizona when it struck about 50,000 years ago.
“That asteroid was made of iron,” he said, “which made it an especially potent impactor.”
Also, in 1908, something about the size of 2012 DA14 exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia, leveling hundreds of square miles of forest. Researchers are still studying the “Tunguska Event” for clues to the impacting object.
“2012 DA14 will definitely not hit Earth,” emphasized Yeomans. “The orbit of the asteroid is known well enough to rule out an impact.”
Even so, it will come interestingly close.
NASA radars will be monitoring the space rock as it approaches Earth closer than many manmade satellites.
Yeomans said the asteroid will thread the gap between low-Earth orbit, where the ISS and many Earth observation satellites are located, and the higher belt of geosynchronous satellites, which provide weather data and telecommunications.
“The odds of an impact with a satellite are extremely remote,” he said.
Almost nothing orbits where DA14 will pass the Earth.
NASA’s Goldstone radar in the Mojave Desert is scheduled to ping 2012 DA14 almost every day from Feb. 16-20.
The echoes will not only pinpoint the orbit of the asteroid, allowing researchers to better predict future encounters, but also reveal physical characteristics such as size, spin, and reflectivity. A key outcome of the observing campaign will be a 3D radar map showing the space rock from all sides.
During the hours around closest approach, the asteroid will brighten until it resembles a star of eighth magnitude. Theoretically, that’s an easy target for backyard telescopes.
The problem, pointed out Yeomans, is speed. “The asteroid will be racing across the sky, moving almost a full degree (or twice the width of a full Moon) every minute. That’s going to be hard to track.”
Only the most experienced amateur astronomers are likely to succeed.
Those who do might experience a tiny chill when they look at their images. That really was a close shave.
For more information about 2012 DA14 and other asteroids of interest, visit NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Web site, http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov .
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
If a blended family is not cohesive to begin with then it is prone to unravel when either stepparent dies.
When it does unravel any festering unhappiness or distrust between the surviving stepparent and stepchildren can erupt into hostility. Hostility turns to quarreling over the deceased person’s assets.
How can good estate planning improve the outcome for all concerned?
A blended family needs a well conceived, drafted and implemented estate plans for husband and wife. Otherwise, unintended outcomes under California’s Probate Code default rules may negatively impact the surviving family.
Consider a married couple where each spouse has two adult children of their own. Their estates are each separate property accumulated prior to marriage. They own their home as joint tenants together and they have designated death beneficiaries on some of their financial assets.
When the first spouse dies the home belongs solely to the surviving spouse, who can leave it to whomever he or she pleases.
The decease spouse’s descendants may receive little to nothing under their stepparent’s will or trust. Is this what the decedent intended?
Alternatively, if the house were the decedent’s sole and separate property – not a joint tenancy asset – then under California’s intestacy laws it would go one-third to the surviving spouse and two thirds equally between the decedent’s two children, presuming neither a will nor a trust pertains. All of them own the house as tenants in common and remain entangled with one another. How well will this work?
Next, the decedent’s financial assets with designated death beneficiaries pass without probate to the named beneficiaries – presuming these were properly completed while he or she was alive, competent and acting of free will.
The remainder of the estate, including any accounts without beneficiaries, passes one third to the surviving spouse and two thirds amongst the decedent’s own children. Was this division intended?
Moreover, if the gross value of the property passing to the children exceeds $150,000 then the children need to open a probate for their inheritances. Neither the distribution scheme nor the probate is typically what the decedent would have desired.
By contrast, a well conceived estate plan protects the decedent’s loved ones and does not put them in mutual opposition, so they can live without mutual entanglement.
The decedent would most likely have utilized a trust and distributed his assets without probate in a manner that resulted in stepparent and stepchildren owning separate assets, i.e., without co-owning any properties.
In our example, the decedent might have left more financial assets to his or her children because the house went to the surviving spouse, or vice versa if the house went to the children instead. Life insurance can ensure that the surviving spouse or children, as relevant, receive the necessary cash.
Many times the decedent’s trust provides his or her surviving spouse with a life interest in all the trust assets and the right to invade the principal as needed in order to supplement his or her other resources, and the remainder going to the deceased spouse’s children at the surviving spouse’s death. Is this desirable?
If the surviving spouse as trustee administers this provision then friction is likely between the stepparent and stepchildren over the stepparent’s invasion of the principal.
Often the stepparent uses the deceased spouse’s resources as much as possible because they don’t care what happens to the stepchildren’s inheritances.
The foregoing could be remedied in various ways. Perhaps a trusted neutral third party trustee could administer the trust; or the surviving spouse be given only limited rights to invade principal with the approval of a third party.
Lastly, the best solution for given family’s particular situation varies based on their resources, needs and objectives.
The assistance of both a qualified estate planning attorney and a financial advisor should be sought in developing, evaluating and implementing the solution.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law. His office is at 55 First St., Lakeport, California. Dennis can be reached by e-mail at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Deputies and police officers responded to a report of a man with a gun behind a Lakeport business Thursday in an incident that officials believe is not connected to a robbery and fatal shooting two weeks ago in Kelseyville.
Lake County Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Brooks said deputies and Lakeport Police officers were not able to locate the subject, who was seen behind the Sears store on S. Main Street, and they’re seeking information from the community about the incident.
At approximately 5:40 p.m. Thursday officers and deputies responded to Sears, with deputies arriving within four minutes after the 911 call was placed, Brooks said.
An employee at the store reported that he was behind the business talking on a cell phone when he saw a male subject, wearing all dark clothing, walking next to the storage units behind the business, according to Brooks.
Brooks said the employee reported the man had a nylon stocking covering his face and was holding what appeared to be a revolver in his right hand. The employee believed he was about to be robbed and began running back inside the store.
The employee said as he was running, he saw the subject point the firearm at him. Once inside the store he called 911 and locked the doors, according to Brooks.
A second employee went to the back of the store to check that the doors were locked and observed a man walking away from the store behind the storage sheds, Brooks said.
Brooks said the second employee reported that the subject was wearing dark camouflage clothing and was holding what appeared to be a revolver. He believed the subject may be older, because he could see his hair was white.
Deputies conducted an extensive search of the area and were unable to locate the subject, Brooks said.
Brooks added that the sheriff’s office believes the suspect seen behind Sears was an isolated incident and is not connected to the Jan. 18 robbery and murder of 33-year-old Forrest Seagrave in Kelseyville. That case remains under investigation.
Anyone with information pertaining to the Lakeport case is asked to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – In 2012 an authentic stagecoach was acquired by the Lake County Historical Society to showcase the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum, Lake County’s newest museum.
The coach was purchased from Tony Oliveira, owner of First and Main Museum & Antiques.
The newly acquired stagecoach is early 1900s vintage and made the run between Lakeport and Hopland. It was refurbished in Lakeport in the 1960s.
As Lake County never had railroad service, the stage lines provided a vital service for its residents and visitors alike.
The Lake County Historical Society is fortunate to have acquired such a dynamic piece of the county’s colorful past.
In 2003 the same stagecoach served as the centerpiece for the Lake County Historical Society display at the California State Fair in Sacramento, taking the silver prize. The award can be viewed at the Lake County Visitor Information Center in Lucerne.
Visitors at the 2012 Kelseyville Pear Festival were afforded viewings of the stagecoach in the Pear Pavilion.
Prior to winter weather threats the stagecoach was on display at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum.
Once the first display barn is completed at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum, the stagecoach will again be on display for the public.
Oliveira’s mall and museum, located at First and Main streets in Upper Lake, features early West cowboy bridles, boots, buggies, gambling and saloon items, and California paintings. It’s open most Fridays through Mondays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Enjoy a personal tour with Oliveira by calling 707-275-9408 for an appointment.
Be sure to visit the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum, Lake County Historical Society’s and the County of Lake’s newest museum.
The museum address is 9921 Soda Bay Road (Highway 281) in Kelseyville, near the Clear Lake Riviera.
Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.
Linda Drake is a docent at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum in Kelseyville, Calif.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A local theater company is asking for the community’s help in tracking down its stolen sound equipment as it prepares to open its latest production later this month.
Sometime during the past two weeks thousands of dollars’ worth of sound equipment was taken from the Gard Street School cafeteria in Kelseyville, the new location for the Lake County Theatre Co., according to the group’s president, Barbara Clark.
The company is fresh off of a successful production of “Miracle on 34th Street,” and is preparing later this month to open “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” according to Clark.
Clark said the theater company had a meeting on Jan. 14, at which time all of the equipment was in place.
On Wednesday, company members discovered that four speakers plus a sound board and mixer were missing, she said.
They didn’t report the equipment as being stolen right away in order to check to see if any members of the company had borrowed it, she said.
On Thursday, she said, they concluded the speakers and sound board had been stolen after no one reported having it.
Clark said theater company members are meeting with sheriff’s deputies on Friday to make the theft report.
She estimated it will cost $1,000 to replace the speakers and she hasn’t priced out what a new sound board will cost, but it’s a large amount for the small company.
“We’re hoping nothing else is missing,” Clark said.
In her six years with the theater company, Clark said nothing like this has happened before.
“We’re just hoping to get our stuff back,” she said.
Clark asked anyone with information about the stolen equipment to call the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-262-4200.
Email Elizabeth Larson at