Border Patrol agent found dead

North County Times ^ | May 13, 2007 | By: North County Times Wire Services -

[machogirl]

how long had that dog been “sitting quietly”?

even a dog, after a while, however well trained, if it’s too long, will rest (or at least an old one will)

[machogirl]

that is a shame, i hope there are some sort of benefits for the man, i have to still wonder about the drowning of, as far as we know, a healthy man?

[machogirl]

oops, big mea culpa, read all posts before posting

[CharlesWayneCT]

I always wonder about the drowning of healthy men. There was a story last week about a man, a military guy, who drowned in the ocean saving two boys. The guys daughter came out with a raft and helped the boys in, after her father had apparently drowned trying to keep them alive.

It seemed odd to me that a physically fit adult male would drown while the two people he was saving managed to survive for the daughter to get to them with a flotation device. But it happened.

I don’t think they know that he drowned saving the dog, I don’t know how they would know for sure, but I presume there’s a reason they mention that as the probable cause, and not just because it sounds “noble” (at least I hope not).

[Eternal_Bear]

Don’t we all?

[ffenkle]

even a dog, after a while, however well trained, if it’s too long, will rest I agree. It must have been quite a dog.

[Eternal_Bear]

That is a reasonable question. I don’t know how this ditch was shaped. Looks like a steep drop off to me. 7 foot of water and another foot or two wall to climb over might have been too much for a water logged average sized man. Just guessing.

[PGalt]

Thanks for the ping. Interesting. Condolences to BP Agent Richard Goldstein’s family and friends.

[Marine Inspector]

I think he accidentally fell, knocked himself out and drowned. Just my opinion.

Agreed!

[brytlea]

Unless the dog told them he went into the canal to rescue him (the dog) how do they know the dog didn’t go into the canal to try to rescue the BP agent? Perhaps there’s more evidence but what I read doesn’t indicate to me that they could know why the guy was in the canal, only that he was in the canal and drowned (I will certainly take them at their word there, as that’s pretty easy to figure out via autopsy) and that the dog had been in the canal and struggled to get out.
susie

[Republicus2001]

Slab City?

[Ajnin]

The main theory is that his accident had something to do with his dog. It’s possible tha this dog went in the canal and he went in to get it out. Once you go into the Coachella you can not simply crawl or walk out. The canal wall is cement, pitched at a 60 degree angle and is covered in algae from the water’s surface to the bottom. You have to be calm and expert enough make it to a ladder. If you miss the ladder you will get sucked into a Siphon. Richard had gone through a siphon.

[smoketree]

drop eight

[philetus]

Its sad but the MSM has increasingly become a source of disinformation and propaganda rather than truth.”

John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff for the New York Times, was one of America’s best loved newspapermen. Called by his peers “The Dean of his Profession”, John was asked in 1953 to give a toast before the New York Press Club, and in so doing made a monumentally important and revealing statement. He is quoted as follows:

“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print.

I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with.

Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job.

If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.

The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.”

[smoketree]

My property is not in slab city, it is much farther east.
I’ve been to the slabs many times. Wierd place.

[rbg81]

Wow. That sounds like the type of confession one makes on his deathbed. I love the see the faces of the audience after that “toast”.

[deport]

Update on story........

CLICK

By JULIA GLICK
The Press-Enterprise

An on-duty Border Patrol agent found dead in an irrigation canal near the Salton Sea appears to have drowned by accident with no signs of foul play, authorities said after Tuesday's autopsy.

Agent Richard Goldstein's injuries were consistent with an accidental drowning, but investigators still have no idea how Goldstein ended up in the strong currents of the Coachella Canal near Niland, said Imperial County Supervising Deputy Coroner Charles Lucas.

"There are so many more questions still than there are answers for the family," Lucas said, adding that the investigation will continue into the circumstances surrounding the agent's death.

Story continues below

Goldstein, 37, was based at the Indio station and served with the border patrol for five years. He was investigating a sensor that had been triggered near the canal Friday when he died, said Lt. George Moreno of the Imperial County Sheriff's Department.

His empty patrol car was found parked and idling with his wet patrol dog beside it. Goldstein's body was later discovered hundreds of yards downstream in the canal, Moreno said.

Memorial services for Goldstein are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Southwest Community Church, 77-701 Fred Waring Drive, Indian Wells, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent David Kim.

A law enforcement procession will escort the casket to the church. Goldstein will be buried near his hometown in upstate New York later in the week, Kim said.

Reach Julia Glick at 760-837-4418 or jglick@PE.com

[Marine Inspector]

Thanks for the update!