Patrick Joseph Guzman
DOB: circa 1943
Date of death: 8 September 2013
Place of birth: Sacramento, CA
Worked 30 years for Southern Pacific RR
Missing Persons listing at:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...an-70-Westport-4-Sep-2013&highlight=Mendocino
A driver on the Shoreline Highway (CA Route 1) spotted a white 1999 Cadillac Deville parked in an seaside overlook at mile marker 83.30 north of Westport CA at about 10 AM on 2 September 2013. When she saw the car still there at about 1:30 PM, she checked it and found it empty with the engine running. She then called the California Highway Patrol; in turn, they notified the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at 1:45 PM. Deputies then ran a license check and discovered the owner was 70-year-old Patrick Joseph Guzman of Fort Bragg CA. Efforts to contact him were unsuccessful, and a search around his car did not locate him. Patrick was deemed a suicide.
The car did not appear to have hosted anyone but Guzman. It was left where it was parked until 8 September 2013. At 5 PM that day, a local journalist using a telephoto lens on his camera spotted a pistol about 50 feet down the slope. He flagged down a passing Fish and Wildlife Officer, who climbed down and located Patrick's body about 150 feet below, in a spot hidden from view above. The gun used to shoot Guzman in the side was easily identified as his because it was an odd make that fired both shotgun shells and solid bullets. Evidence was sent off for forensic blood and firearm testing.
An hour after discovery of the body,Patrick's daughter drove his car to his home. When she checked the residence, she found it had been looted of money, welding equipment, a hydraulic jack, a computer and printer, and three guns. With no reason for a suicide to steal from himself, there was ample reason to suspect foul play. (Personal observation: Nor is a person shooting one's self through the side a usual method of suicide. The head, or maybe the heart, are the most common vital points for suicide via firearm.)
I have outlined the route he drove on that fatal day on Google maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Oce...8c2b2!2m2!1d-123.8060531!2d39.4586838!1m0!3e0
Patrick Guzman was purportedly in such rush to commit suicide he left his car's engine running; yet his route passed up several opportunities along the way to pull into scenic overlooks similar to the one where his car was parked. Below find screen shots of the mile marker and pullout where his car was parked.
Mile marker 83.30 is at:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.707...LbG7ILf0omUlmEwNtQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
View of pullout from the south:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.706...KfiFDhI8bMYwUR3Seg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
Information concerning this case may be called in to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Tipline at 707-234-2100. Their Investigative Services Bureau may be emailed at barneys@co.mendocino.ca.us. The Sheriff's Office can also be reached at 951 Low Gap Road, Ukiah, CA95482.
Sources:
Findagrave.com website:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=117414195&df=all&
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/csp/me...at/News/story.csp?cid=2215970&sid=555&fid=181
Fort Bragg Advocate-News, 8 September2013:
http://www.advocate-news.com/general-news/20130908/id-released-of-body-recovered-north-of-westport
Anderson Valley Advertiser, 5 September2013:
http://theava.com/archives/23710
AVA, 9 October 2013:
http://theava.com/archives/24192
