Posted on 06/02/2002 2:08:34 PM PDT by cgk
CHICO, Calif. -- Butte County authorities are searching for an 11-year-old girl following the discovery of the body of her father.
The body of Joaquin Garcia, 45, of Downey, Calif., was found near Chico earlier this week.
Authorities said Garcia died from a gunshot wound to the head. An autopsy was performed Thursday in an effort to determine whether the fatal gunshot wound was self-inflicted, but results are not expected to be made public before Monday.
Officials said when the body was found, the eyeglasses of his daughter Jeanene were found on the seat of the father's truck parked off a mountain road.
A Butte County Sheriff's spokeswoman said Garcia picked up his daughter in Altadena in Los Angeles County May 20. The mother, divorced from Garcia, filed a missing persons report after they failed return as scheduled last Friday from a trip to Arizona.
It's not known why Garcia was in Northern California.
Copyright 2002 by TheKCRAChannel and The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Story:
An 11-year-old Altadena girl is missing days after her father took her on a trip. The girl's father was found dead Wednesday, prompting concern about the girl's safety. The father's death is believed to be a result of suicide. Kim Aldomovar, the mother of the missing girl said she can't understand why Jack Garcia, the father of the her child, took his life.
Aldomovar also said that she can't get the thought out of her mind that Garcia might have injured their 11-year-old daughter, Jeanene Bonner.
Aldomovar said "That is something that we have to face. Maybe something transpired and he did hurt her and felt like he could not bring her back home. We hope that has not happened."
Jeanene and her father left Altadena on May 20, supposedly to go to Lake Havasu. Instead, the father was found dead in his pickup truck in Butte County in Northern California.
When Garcia was discovered there was no sign of Jeanene, but there was blood all over the cab, along with some of the child's clothing.
At a press conference held Friday, Jeanene's uncle, Henry Bonner, and her mother appealed for help.
Bonner said "She's a really bright girl and I know if she was able to get to a phone or make a call she would do it. Just get the picture out everywhere you can."
Aldomovar said "We are desperately seeking the public's assistance in any kind of way, if anyone may have seen any suspicious behavior."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the L.A. County Sheriff's Deparment, Altadena Branch.
Police in Butte County called off their search for the girl Thursday. The search had focused on the forest area surrounding her father's pickup was found.
Copyright 2002 by NBC4.tv. All rights reserved.
This case is also already at the websites for both the Polly Klaas Foundation & the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
I have added the top photo of Jeanene Bonner without her glasses as stories have reported her glasses were found in the truck with her dead father.
Mrs Kus
Mrs Kus
Mrs Kus
If you need them you are never seperated. They are the first things on your face in the morning last off at night.
Mrs Kus
Well, this just looks very bad. I agree with dinsdale... we of the optically-challenged persuasion keep our glasses close by always.
Mrs Kus
By DAVID PIERSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
The mother of a missing Altadena girl headed to a town 100 miles north of Sacramento on Saturday, handing out fliers along the way in hopes of finding her 11-year-old daughter, a family member said.
Kim Almodovar's trip comes two days after Butte County sheriff's deputies called off a search for her daughter, Jeanene Bonner.
The girl was last seen with her father, Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, on May 21. Police said he and the girl were in Las Vegas before the 35-year-old Garcia was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday in his pickup, parked along a quiet wooded road near Butte Meadows.
Though there's a chance that Jeanene was not with Garcia at the time of his death, authorities searched in a five-mile radius around the pickup the day after the grim discovery.
"We didn't see any clue that she was there," said Sgt. Andy Duch of the Butte County Sheriff's Department. "There was no evidence that anybody was removed."
Duch said there was a considerable amount of blood inside the vehicle and that pending lab results will determine if it was all Garcia's.
(SNIP>>>>)
The rest of the LA Times story can be found here:
Mother of Girl Starts Her Own Search
This story mentions how they were last seen in Vegas, though the purpose of the trip was apparently Lake Havasu, AZ, not far, but not close either. Strange how they're saying there was no evidence anyone was removed, or if she was even there if her glasses were found in the car.
Mrs Kus
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