The following is a press released issued by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:
On August 9th, 2020, Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to an area in the Mendocino National Forest related to possible human remains being discovered. Detectives from the Major Crimes Unit also responded to the location and determined the remains were human, badly decomposed and were believed to have been in the forest for several weeks.
The remains were recovered and an autopsy was conducted later that week. The autopsy revealed that the remains belonged to a male and the death was a homicide due to a gunshot wound. Detectives were able to positively identify the victim as John Turner Dickerson, 48, of Nice.
Detectives have been investigating several leads during the past year related to Dickerson’s death. On August 19th, 2020, detectives served a search warrant at a property in Potter Valley associated with Christopher McDonald, 44, of Potter Valley. Through the investigation detectives determined McDonald was one of the last people seen with Dickerson prior to his death. During the search of McDonald’s property, evidence was located and later tested that linked McDonald to the murder of Dickerson.
On May 4th, 2021, Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for McDonald. He was arrested for the murder and is currently being held in the Mendocino County Jail where he is in custody for unrelated charges. McDonald is awaiting extradition to Lake County.
The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who may have further information regarding this case to contact Detective Jeff Mora at 707-262-4224, or by email at jeffrey.mora@lakecountyca.gov.
