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LAKE COUNTY – Authorities are trying to identify a man whose body was found by hunters in a remote part of the Mendocino County National Forest on Saturday.
The body was located near the border of Lake and Glenn counties, and was first reported to the Glenn County Sheriff's Office, who received a call at 8:15 p.m. Saturday, said Mary Beth Stanbery, administrative services officer for the Glenn County Sheriff's Office.
The unidentified man was found in the bed of Corbin Creek where it crosses US Forest Service road 20N24, west of Road M3, Stanbery said.
Glenn County sent a team to the area, where they found the body and a pickup with “considerable fire damage throughout the cab and bed area,” said Stanbery.
They also found a handgun and some documents at the scene, said Stanbery.
When they realized the body was within Lake County's boundaries, Stanbery said Glenn County turned the case over the the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
A report from Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Cecil Brown said the agency was contacted by a Glenn County Sheriff's detective at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, who reported the body's discovery.
Detectives from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene, said Brown, where they recovered the body.
Brown said they couldn't positively identify the body at the scene. A coroner’s investigation has been initiated with an autopsy scheduled, said Brown, in the hopes of identifying the man and determining his cause of death.
On Tuesday, Brown told Lake County News that the body could be connected to a missing person report that the sheriff's office received, but that he could not comment further on the missing person case prior to the body's identification.
Stanbery said they have no missing persons reports in Glenn County which match the case.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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CLEARLAKE OAKS – A large contingent of local, state and federal firefighters contained a wildland fire that broke out near Clearlake Oaks Tuesday afternoon.
Cal Fire's Incident Command Center reported that the fire, which broke out along Highway 20 in an area between Clearlake Oaks and a rock quarry, was between 15 and 20 acres in size.
Paul Duncan of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center said that the fire was reported at 3:15 p.m.
Northshore Fire, Cal Fire and Lake County Fire Protection District all responded to the fire, Duncan said. Cal Fire dispatch estimated that as many as 15 engines were on scene, including U.S. Forest Service engines, along with three Cal Fire hand crews, two air tankers and a helicopter.
No injuries were reported, according to Cal Fire. Some structures were threatened but none were burned.
Although the fire was contained by 8 p.m., fire crews were expected to be on duty all night to mop up and keep watch on a number of hot spots, according to Cal Fire. A day crew also is supposed to monitor the area on Wednesday.
Duncan said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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KELSEYVILLE – A Kelseyville woman was flown to a Santa Rosa hospital Tuesday with major injuries after she and a pickup collided as she rode her bicycle along Soda Bay Road.
The accident occurred at 10:20 a.m. on Soda Bay Road east of Blower Road, reported California Highway Patrol Officer Josh Dye.
Ellen Luise Boettcher, 48, was riding her bicycle westbound along Soda Bay Road, said Dye. She was in a 15 mile-per-hour-curve when she and a 1994 Chevy pickup driven by 84-year-old Teddy Henry Weiper of Kelseyville collided.
Boettcher had major injuries and was flown by REACH helicopter to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital due to a laceration on her right upper arm and a complaint of pain to her right hip, Dye reported. Weiper was uninjured.
Dye said the cause of the collision is still under investigation, led by CHP Officer Craig Van Housen.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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CLEARLAKE OAKS – Firefighters from state and local agencies are fighting a wildland fire near Highway 20 and 53.
Paul Duncan of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center said that the fire, roughly 15 acres in size, is burning in an area between Clearlake Oaks and a rock quarry.
Duncan said the fire was reported at 3:15 p.m.
Northshore Fire, Cal Fire and Lake County Fire Protection District all responded to the fire and were continuing their efforts to put the fire out as of 5:30 p.m.
Duncan said the cause of the fire is not yet known.
Lake County News will continue to follow the progress of the fire.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE – A Hidden Valley man reported missing after he went for a swim in Hidden Valley Lake has been found, the victim of an apparent drowning.
A report from Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Cecil Brown said that the body of Matthew Norman Kosar, 38, was found in the lake near a floating platform by sheriff's deputies and Search and Rescue volunteers on Sunday.
Brown said sheriff's deputies responded at 9:27 p.m. Saturday to a call at a Hidden Valley Lake recreation area reporting a missing swimmer.
At the scene, witnesses told deputies that Kosar entered the lake and swam to a floating swim platform, according to Brown's report. Kosar climbed onto the platform and then jumped back into the water.
After Kosar went into the water the second time, witnesses said they didn't see him again, Brown reported.
Deputies requested assistance from the California Department of Forestry, who sent a swimmer to search for Kosar under the floating platform and docks, according to Brown. A Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter searched the area with forward looking infra-red equipment.
After finding Kosar Sunday, authorities were able to positively identify him and notify his next of kin, according to Brown.
A coroner’s investigation was initiated, Brown's report stated. A pathologist has determined that Kosar’s death was caused by fresh water drowning.
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CLEARLAKE OAKS – Five people and two dogs enjoying an evening on a pontoon boat hit trouble late Saturday, when their boat was damaged and capsized.
Richard Haney, the main operator of the Northshore Fire Protection District's Clearlake Oaks fire boat, said the call on the capsized pontoon boat came in around 11 p.m. Saturday.
The group was located in the water near the capsized boat on the west side of Rattlesnake Island, Haney said.
One of the boat's pontoons had been damaged, which caused it to take on water, Haney explained. The boat also may have been slightly overloaded; those factors, combined with the wind and high waves, conspired to tip the boat over.
Two Lake County Sheriff's Marine Patrol boats also responded along with the fire boat, said Haney.
The Marine Patrol rescued the people and canines from the water while Haney towed the boat to shore. “Our job mainly was to get rid of the hazard in the water,” Haney said.
Once the boat was towed in, Haney said the fire boat crew uprighted it. He said the boat was completely damaged.
Although the boat wasn't in such good shape, everyone else was OK, said Haney.
“Everybody's fine. The dogs are good,” he reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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