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Subject: DEATH: KRIZO, MELVIN
Date: 9 Dec 2005 17:00:49 -0700

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Daily Independent newspaper Ridgecrest Ca Kern County
November 13, 2005 Front Page

MAN FOUND DEAD NEAR WAGON WHEEL
Person may have been from Garden Grove, reported missing three weeks ago

A man's body was found at the Wagon Wheel Off Highway Vehicle Recreation area near Trona Friday afternoon.
Authorities will not release his name until relatives are notified. His age hasn't been confirmed.
It appears the man is from the Garden Grove area and that he had been missing for three weeks San Bernardino authorities said Saturday.
Ridgecrest residents apparently tried to notify law enforcement officials three times about suspicious circumstances before authorities responded discovering the body Friday afternoon.
Susan McKnight, her husband Jeff and their daughter are frequent visitors to the area and say others had seen the man in the area for some time.
"We know he's been out here at least three weeks," said McKnight. "Other people said they saw him around then, but no one had seen him outside recently."
Last weekend McKnight said she tried to have someone check up on the man.
"We were out here Friday, Saturday and Sunday and didn't see any movement, any lights or anything (around the motohome)" said McKnight. "I called the San Bernardino County sheriff's Department and they told me it wasn't their area, that I should call the CHP. I asked them if I should call BLM instead since it was on BLM land but they said to call the CHP."
McKnight said she called the California Highway Patrol dispatch center at the non-emergency numberlisted in the phone book and explained the situation to them on No.v 6.
"I told them the whol story, even gave them the license plate number," she said.
Nearly a week later Jeff McKnight came back out to the area to go riding with his daughter and noticed the motorhome was still there. As he passed by the motorhome the wind shifted and he noticed the unmistakable stench of a decomposing body.
"His family worked in the mortuary business so he knows what that smells like," said McKnight.
Shortly after her husband called 911 on his cell phone firefighters from Trona arrived on scene, determined the man was obviously dead and notified the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
Kern County Sheriff Department Senior Dupty responded to secure the area until a Trona deputy could arrive.
By Friday afternoon the area around the motorhome had been cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape awaiting the arrival of San Bernardino County Corner office personnel.
McKnight also went back out to the area after her husband called authorities. She said that she and her husband were concerned about what seemed to be a communnication breakdown among law enforcement.
"The only response we got was when my husband called 911," said McKnight. "I was always taught 911 was for emergencies, it doesn't seem like we should have had to call 911 to get someone to look into this before now."
Authorities said Saturday the case is still under investigation and further details were not available.

Daily Independent newspaper Ridgecrest CA November 15, 2005 Front Page

WAGON WHEEL DEATH BELIEVED TO BE SUICIDE

A man found dead at Wagon Wheel Off Highway Vehicle Recreation Area on Friday has been identified as Melvin Krizo, 69, of Garden Grove. His death has been ruled a suicide by the San Bernardino County Coroners office.
Officials declined to specify the nature of the suicide on Tuesday.
The man's body was found in a motohome at the campground Friday by an off road enthusiast who called 911 fter discovering the man.
Susan McKnight, her husband Jeff and daughter are frequent visitors to the area and say others had seen the man in the area for some time.
"We know he's been out here at least three weeks," said McKnight. "Other people said they saw him around then, but no one had seen him recently."
On Friday Jeff McKnight came back to the area to go riding with his daughter and noticed the motorhome was still there. As he passed by the motorhome the wind shifted and he said he noticed the unmistakable stench of a decomposing body, then called 911 on his cell phone.
Friefights from Trona arrived on scene, determined the man was obviously dead and notified the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

News Review newspaper Ridgecrest Ca November 23, 2005
Front Page

WAGON WHEEL DEATH RULED SUICIDE
Man may have died shortly before discovery

Medical investigators have ruled that a man found dead on Nov. 11 at the Wagon Wheel Off Highway Vehicle Staging Area near Trona committed suicide by carbone monoxide poisoning.
According to public information officer for the San Bernardino County Corner the body diescovered by visitors to Wagon Wheel on Nov. 12 was identified as 69 year old Melvin Krizo of Garden Grove.
Krizo's wife reported him missing to authorities in Garden Grove after he left home on Nov. 2 and did not return said the public information officer for the San Bernardino County Sheriff.
"It sounds like he was a frequent visitor to that area," they stated.
Reports previously published in the Daily Independent indicated that frequent Wagon Wheel visitors Susan and Jeff McKnight asked authorities to check on Krizo but were rebuffed.
Jeff McKnight reported the smell of a ded body comeing from the motor home on a subsequent visit on Nov. 11, the paper reported.
The Sheriff office did not have a record of any report of that kind in the Wagon Wheel area from when Krizo was last seen by his family until Jeff McKnight reported the smell of a body when responders from San Bernardino Fire Department, San Bernardino Sheriff's Deptarment and Kern County Sheriuff's Department responded.
The News Review tried unsuccessfully to contact the McKnights for clarification about their repoted claims that authorities did not act to check on Krizo.
Some details about Krizo's death are not availabe from the coroner's investigation.
Cause of death was acute carbon monoxide poisoning by two running generators inside a closed motorhome.
The corner's office determined that Krizo deliberately allowed the generators to run in the confined space to end his life.
One of the allegation made in previous reports was that Krizo could have been dead for days with his body lying ignored by law enforcementofficials.
Although an exact time of death will not be part of the coroner's report and is always difficult to determine, Krizo may have been dead for a much shorter time than previously speculated.
When you have generatiors it increases heat and thee things promote dcomposition - heat, moisture and air. You are dealing with some in an enclosed environment, then the generators are going to run out of gas and cool down.
A person could feasibly become severely decomposed within a day in a place that's very, very hot.
The coroner's office suggested that a detectable smell could have emanated from the motor home in as little as 12 hours after Krizo took his life.

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