According to Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Captain Greg Van Patten, MCSO detectives are currently assisting Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation into the January 26 homicide of 85-year-old local rancher Richard Grayson Drewry.
Captain Van Patten said MCSO detectives are “helping do a neighborhood canvas by knocking on doors and seeing if anyone has information.”
Van Patten clarified that the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is the lead investigatory agency regarding the case. Still, MCSO is assisting because the “deceased just lives over the county line in Mendocino County.”
Pictures taken by KMUD’s Lauren Schmitt indicate detectives are gathering evidence near the location where Drewery was killed. California Department of Fish and Wildlife is using a track K-9 on the scene.
According to a press release from HCSO, on January 26, 2021, deputies were dispatched to the Bell Springs Road area near Island Mountain Road regarding a gunshot victim where they located a Richard Grayson Drewry. Lifesaving measures were attempted, but Drewery succumbed to his injuries.
On February 3, HCSO’s Public Information Officer Samantha Karges confirmed that based on an autopsy, HCSO determined that Mr. Drewry’s manner of death to be a homicide.”
Karges clarified that HCSO has not “identified a suspect and are actively working on this case, following up on all leads.”
Karges asks that anyone with information regarding the case contact HCSO at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip Line at 707-268-2539
