CA - Body of local doctor found in chimney flue

[Lovejac]

Kotarac apparently died in the chimney, but her body was not discovered until a house-sitter noticed a stench and fluids coming from the fireplace Saturday, according to a police statement. The house-sitter and her son investigated with a flashlight and found Kotarac dead, wedged about two feet above the top of the interior fireplace opening.

OMG! How gruesome

 

[montana_16]

How awful. I hope she passed out quickly. Horrible way to die.

Judging by the comments section, she was a good doctor and beloved by her patients. Terrible story for all involved.

 

[cluciano63]

OK, I know this is incredibly cruel, but some of the comments after the posted story made me laugh...sorry

 

[Bennettras]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100901...jA3luX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDY29wc2NhbGlmZG9j

Hmmm.......while she was trying to break in, the man she was pursuing left to avoid a confrontation. Did he leave for 3 days? Why was the house sitter there with her son to discover the body? Where did he go for 3 days after leaving to avoid a confrontation?

Did he run out of the house with a suitcase, or purchase clothes for 3 days so he didn't have to look up the chimney? I am not condoning what the ex-girlfriend did - but throw me a bone here.

"She made an unbelievable error in judgment and nobody understands why, and unfortunately she's passed away," [THE EX-BOYFRIEND] told The Associated Press. REALLY - YOU THINK - ?!?!!?:waitasec::waitasec:

Sounds suspicious to me.

 

[drip~drop]

How awful. I hope she passed out quickly. Horrible way to die.

Judging by the comments section, she was a good doctor and beloved by her patients. Terrible story for all involved.

Apparently she wasn't too smart tho.
Entering through the chimney..a doctor, a lady doctor yet. :waitasec:

That's terribly crazy imo. Poor thing. Really, whatever happened to smashing in a window.

 

[tapu]

I never felt like there was anything suspicious about this, but I did wonder if she suffered (besides the apparent mental suffering she was already going through).

It seems that she would have slid down to a narrowing point where her ribcage would have caught and she couldn't go any further. Then when she tried to inhale, her ribs couldn't expand, so neither could her lungs. With no way to take breath in, she would have passed out in a minute give or take. I hope. To imagine someone stuck upright in a chimney, waiting out a longer death is really upsetting to me. Do you all remember when John Jones was stuck in the cave out in Utah last year, and died after hours and hours of waiting to be rescued? It made me so sad to think of him stuck in there that I have never gotten it out of my mind. So sad!

 

[TinaD]

If her chest wasn't able to expand, she wouldn't have been able to get enough air to scream. What a tragic and avoidable end.

 

[roller26]

Fishy!

 

[TGIRecovered]

I am sure that there will be an autopsy to see if there is any soot in her lungs. If she was killed or injured before being put down the chimney, it would be pretty hard to get a dead or unconsious body up to the roof without attracting attention!

I do wonder if the ex-boyfriend might have been there when she climbed in and realized that she was stuck. There would have been plenty of noise when she climbed in, and surely she would have cried out for help! It seems strange to me that he would just leave while she was trying to break in to his home without calling the cops. She could have broken in and trashed the place, yet he just walked out and didn't return for several days...doesn't seem very smart to me!

I wonder if the police questioned him while she was missing but before she was found in the chimney.

 

[jjenny]

I am sure that there will be an autopsy to see if there is any soot in her lungs. If she was killed or injured before being put down the chimney, it would be pretty hard to get a dead or unconsious body up to the roof without attracting attention!

I do wonder if the ex-boyfriend might have been there when she climbed in and realized that she was stuck. There would have been plenty of noise when she climbed in, and surely she would have cried out for help! It seems strange to me that he would just leave while she was trying to break in to his home without calling the cops. She could have broken in and trashed the place, yet he just walked out and didn't return for several days...doesn't seem very smart to me!

I wonder if the police questioned him while she was missing but before she was found in the chimney.

He left for a trip to Europe. That's why he had a house -sitter who eventually discovered the body.

 

[dgfred]

He left for a trip to Europe. That's why he had a house -sitter who eventually discovered the body.

Where to? Probably should have checked if she (and his home) was ok if he knew she was 'breaking' in.

 

[jjenny]

Where to? Probably should have checked if she (and his home) was ok if he knew she was 'breaking' in.

Amsterdam.
The home was checked several times, first by her assistant and then by police who did not find her in the chimney. Then he left for the trip to Europe (Amsterdam) which they originally planned to go on together, apparently.
"Police searched the home Friday evening, but also did not find her body or smell any bad odors, DeGeare said."
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x49332680/Police-Alcohol-may-be-factor-in-doctors-death

 

[jjenny]

I don't see anything strange about the story. In the video report they said that she was trying to get in and the man slipped out to avoid her and stayed someplace else for the night. When she couldn't get in she used a service ladder that was attached to the house to get on the roof then she tried to go down the chimney. The guy came back home the next day and found her purse outside and her car was still in front of his house and she was nowhere around so he called the cops. Then he got his things together and went on his trip. On that Sunday she was found by his house sitter.

She was a person that was obsessed with this guy and wasn't thinking correctly and did something stupid. Both men and women do stuff like this all the time.

http://www.turnto23.com/video/24818831/index.html

Surely not all the time. How many times have you heard of a woman who died because she was stuck in the chimney?

 

[Indianagirl]

I'm thinking alcohol might have been a contributing factor. Very sad case...Sending prayers to her family.

 

[Joe Friday]

Surely not all the time. How many times have you heard of a woman who died because she was stuck in the chimney?

There are plenty of stories of people trying to gain access to homes and business by climbing down the chimney but very few result in the persons death. Most of the stories are the result of burglaries gone wrong.

I wonder if the guy in this video wishes he would have died? I can't see what would have attracted this guy to this women enough to make him want to climb down a chimney to see her in the first place, but that's just my opinion.


[video=youtube;aHHkqMZlDv0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHHkqMZlDv0[/video]

 

[Gozgals]

This story does remind me of Lisa Novak's. ( the astronaut) and of stalking. No doubt alcohol played a part in what took place. I'm sure a story like this
takes place everyday, minus the chimney where a man or woman tries to talk to an ex who does not want to speak to them. It is very sad she did not
break a window that is why I'm thinking drinking had to be involved. She could not have been in her right mind. Going down a small chimney just does not seem logical.
Since the man was cleared, he most likely did not know she was in the chimney and didn't let her die. He was probably avoiding her and did not want to communicate. I feel so sorry for her. Not a situation that takes place everyday in this way. Truly bizarre.



Goz

 

[LinasK]

Surely not all the time. How many times have you heard of a woman who died because she was stuck in the chimney?

My gut impressions are that the boyfriend hid her body in the chimney, stuffed her up there and tried to flee to Europe. Much like Annie Le's body was found stuffed into a wall.

 

[cluciano63]

I'm pretty sure the man's story checked out and neighbors saw her out in his yard with an array of supplies that would aid in her breaking into the house. I believe it is just a bizarre accident. If it was a man in the chimney, would anyone be blaming the woman in the house??

 

[Joe Friday]

My gut impressions are that the boyfriend hid her body in the chimney, stuffed her up there and tried to flee to Europe. Much like Annie Le's body was found stuffed into a wall.

There would be a damper inside the chimney just above the fire box that would have prevented her from being stuffed up into the chimney. This damper is likely what she encountered when coming down the chimney and it blocked her exit if not the narrowing of the chimney itself did not. We can assume that the chimney was a tight squeeze from the corners ruling that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia. Also trying to shove dead weight such as a body "up" inside a chimney would be just about impossible IMO.

What would have been the motive to hide a dead body inside his chimney anyway, if he had killed her? She would have been found eventually and the autopsy would have shown a different cause of death if he had killed her, pointing right to him. Such as if he strangulated her there would be ligature marks on her neck and petechial hemorrhaging in her eyes.

 

[LinasK]

What would have been the motive to hide a dead body inside his chimney anyway, if he had killed her? She would have been found eventually

Not necessarily, look how long it took to find her after she died. He might have thought it a good hiding place. Do we really know the details of their relationship? It just seems too convienient to blame it on her being a stalker, doesn't seem likely for a college educated doctor...:snooty: