Thursday, April 17, 2025

Detectives Investigating Covelo Home Thought to be Connected with the Killing of Man Found in an Abandoned Vehicle

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On Sunday, October 3, 2021, a Fish and Wildlife Game Warden found an abandoned vehicle on Mendocino Pass Road and located a dead, decomposing body in the trunk. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department later determined the body belonged to an out-of-the-area man who was the victim of a homicide. 

Yesterday and today, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office detectives have been actively serving a search warrant on a home on Covelo’s Henderson Lane that Captain Greg Van Patten said is thought to be connected “with the homicide in Covelo involving the deceased male in the trunk of the vehicle.” 

Captain Van Patten told us the detectives were unable to finish processing the scene right away  so, he said,  “We held the location overnight and will resume scene processing today.”

A Round Valley resident told us approximately twenty undercover vehicles and twenty officers are at the residence and forensics teams appear to be digging up the yard.

Investigators have had to travel to “locations outside of Mendocino County,” Captain Van Patten said, in efforts to solve the crime.

Earlier this week Captain Van Patten characterized the investigation into the homicide as “time-consuming” because of its complexity and the fact the circumstances surrounding the man’s death seem to be a “body dump type of murder.”

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Information regarding the victim was slow to emerge after its initial discovery to its advanced state of decomposition and though the victim has been identified, Captain Van Patten said earlier this week the next-of-kin had yet to be notified. 

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Matt LaFever
Matt LaFeverhttps://mendofever.com/
For the past seven years, Matt LaFever has covered the North Coast of California in both print and radio news. A Humboldt State graduate, he has lived in the Emerald Triangle for nearly 20 years. His reporting spans local issues like crime and wildfires. When not writing, Matt is an avid outdoorsman, exploring Northern California’s rugged landscapes. Reach out to him at matthewplafever@gmail.com.

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