CA CA - Virgil Owen Bussell, Jr., 52, Weitchpec, 25 Mar 2020

[burblestein]

Human remains have just been found in the area of Virgil's disappearance.

Human Remains Located in Northeast Humboldt – Redheaded Blackbelt

 

[burblestein]

And another clip: Unidentified Human Remains Recovered in Northeast Humboldt

 

[Luckyzmom]

@burblestein thank you for sharing this. Keeping Virgil and family and friends in my prayers. Could not "like " it ;(

 

[mlhenn]

Human Remains Located in Northeast Humboldt – Redheaded Blackbelt

Someone in comments even suggested it may be him.

 

[burblestein]

@burblestein thank you for sharing this. Keeping Virgil and family and friends in my prayers. Could not "like " it ;(

What's to like? Too grim. Still, I hope they identify someone through this find.

 

[Ajai Baktar]

No word yet on the remains they found?
I kind of thought we’d hear something by now.

 

[mlhenn]

No word yet on the remains they found?
I kind of thought we’d hear something by now.

Remains found last week identified as missing Hoopa man, primary suspect named - KIEM-TV | Redwood News

It wasn’t him.

The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified human remains recovered last Thursday as that of missing person Julius Barthel Tripp.

 

[burblestein]

Dang! It's gotten so bad you can't keep track of the bodies in Humboldt without some kind of scorecard, or something.

 

[mlhenn]

Dang! It's gotten so bad you can't keep track of the bodies in Humboldt without some kind of scorecard, or something.

It really has! There’s a lot going on in that county IMO!

 

[BuySellTrade]

Dang! It's gotten so bad you can't keep track of the bodies in Humboldt without some kind of scorecard, or something.

Here is another suspicious death from earlier this week. This is about 2 miles from my house. HW 96 was upgraded to two lanes in that stretch back in the late 1960s. The highway now goes through a through cut where straightened and there is about a 1/4 miles section of the old location that wraps around what is called China Point. Several years ago steel bar gates were put on both ends of the old roadway to keep people out. Folks would party there or dump garbage or whatever. But on the point there is a turnout and a near vertical drop of about 500 feet down to the Klamath River. The name China Point came from the alleged history that gold miners threw Chinese miners / laborers off China Point when the Chinese were legally expelled from California back in the 1880s. The Expulsion - The Chinese Expulsion This link is about the expulsion from coastal Humboldt county in general and not here in the interior mountains of Humboldt county.

There has been no follow up in the local news and I asked several local folks about the identity of the deceased and no one knew anything. Took a ride to check out the site two days ago. The gates are open now. Evidently one of the things that attracted notice was there was a small wildfire. One thing that surprised me was the burn area was on and above the old road but also over the slope. Can see direct down to River (the photo in the linked article of the boat carrying away the body is from the China Point headed up the River canyon turnout) but can only see about 100 feet down slope to where there is a break and near vertical from that point, but even the top area is too steep to safely traverse and items (or a body) could easily be pitched over the edge of the old road and end up down near the River. Evidently there was a vehicle off the road as well. There was plastic ribbon and a length of fire fighting hose left at the site. The responders who went over that edge for the fire and body had guts to do that work.

Here is the initial and a follow up article that deemed the death "suspicious"

Reported Crash With a Fatality and Fire off Hwy 96 – Redheaded Blackbelt

Body Found With Yesterday’s Crash Off Hwy 96 Deemed Suspicious Death – Redheaded Blackbelt

 

[mlhenn]

Here is another suspicious death from earlier this week. This is about 2 miles from my house. HW 96 was upgraded to two lanes in that stretch back in the late 1960s. The highway now goes through a through cut where straightened and there is about a 1/4 miles section of the old location that wraps around what is called China Point. Several years ago steel bar gates were put on both ends of the old roadway to keep people out. Folks would party there or dump garbage or whatever. But on the point there is a turnout and a near vertical drop of about 500 feet down to the Klamath River. The name China Point came from the alleged history that gold miners threw Chinese miners / laborers off China Point when the Chinese were legally expelled from California back in the 1880s. The Expulsion - The Chinese Expulsion This link is about the expulsion from coastal Humboldt county in general and not here in the interior mountains of Humboldt county.

There has been no follow up in the local news and I asked several local folks about the identity of the deceased and no one knew anything. Took a ride to check out the site two days ago. The gates are open now. Evidently one of the things that attracted notice was there was a small wildfire. One thing that surprised me was the burn area was on and above the old road but also over the slope. Can see direct down to River (the photo in the linked article of the boat carrying away the body is from the China Point headed up the River canyon turnout) but can only see about 100 feet down slope to where there is a break and near vertical from that point, but even the top area is too steep to safely traverse and items (or a body) could easily be pitched over the edge of the old road and end up down near the River. Evidently there was a vehicle off the road as well. There was plastic ribbon and a length of fire fighting hose left at the site. The responders who went over that edge for the fire and body had guts to do that work.

Here is the initial and a follow up article that deemed the death "suspicious"

Reported Crash With a Fatality and Fire off Hwy 96 – Redheaded Blackbelt

Body Found With Yesterday’s Crash Off Hwy 96 Deemed Suspicious Death – Redheaded Blackbelt

Ive created a couple more MP threads for individuals in the area as well. What’s going on around there?!

 

[BuySellTrade]

I've created a couple more MP threads for individuals in the area as well. What’s going on around there?!

There has always been a reputation for lawlessness and there is in fact not much law. The nearest Humboldt County Sheriff substation to me is nearly 40 miles and tha is after going through the Yurok and Hupa Reservations who have LE but jurisdictions except by request are the Reservations. Eight miles past Orleans is Siskiyou county which is larger and more rural than Humboldt. There is a small market at Somes Bar near the county line but one needs to drive nearly 50 miles to Happy Camp for another business. One does not often see Sheriff's vehicles nor CHP or other LE very often and usually when they are present is in response to events.

There is a combination of factors besides lack of LE. Rural, poverty, pot growing, meth and heroin, outlaw as life style (often multi-generational), some would say the high Native American population and related but there are also failed timber industry left behinds and society dropouts, tendency of locals to not be friendly to outsiders, feuds, lack of tourist and traveler facilities, and so on. When my parents were children the only access was by mule (mostly), horse, or foot; very wild west in character. Some used to say that Route 169 down the Klamath from Weitchpec was the most lawless area in the USA. Actually now that there are phones and electricity and Yurok LE and the road is much better but it is all relative. My excuse for being here is that it is where I was born and raised (but have spent most of my adult life elsewhere) and the natural world is outstanding in extent and beauty.

So I don't know. The conditions have improved materially by a substantial amount in the past 30 years for the local Tribes (Karuk, Hupa, Yurok). IMO the meth and heroin has much to do with rip offs and violence.

 

[BuySellTrade]

DBM (1st time got that double post thing).

 

[mlhenn]

@BuySellTrade thanks for sharing.

 

[burblestein]

Great rundown on local conditions by BuySellTrade. Only thing I might add is, the incredible ruggedness of the local terrain has to be seen to be believed. We have all these parks in the Emerald Triangle simply because the territory was too rough to settle.

 

[BuySellTrade]

Here is another suspicious death from earlier this week. This is about 2 miles from my house. HW 96 was upgraded to two lanes in that stretch back in the late 1960s. The highway now goes through a through cut where straightened and there is about a 1/4 miles section of the old location that wraps around what is called China Point. Several years ago steel bar gates were put on both ends of the old roadway to keep people out. Folks would party there or dump garbage or whatever. But on the point there is a turnout and a near vertical drop of about 500 feet down to the Klamath River. The name China Point came from the alleged history that gold miners threw Chinese miners / laborers off China Point when the Chinese were legally expelled from California back in the 1880s. The Expulsion - The Chinese Expulsion This link is about the expulsion from coastal Humboldt county in general and not here in the interior mountains of Humboldt county.

There has been no follow up in the local news and I asked several local folks about the identity of the deceased and no one knew anything. Took a ride to check out the site two days ago. The gates are open now. Evidently one of the things that attracted notice was there was a small wildfire. One thing that surprised me was the burn area was on and above the old road but also over the slope. Can see direct down to River (the photo in the linked article of the boat carrying away the body is from the China Point headed up the River canyon turnout) but can only see about 100 feet down slope to where there is a break and near vertical from that point, but even the top area is too steep to safely traverse and items (or a body) could easily be pitched over the edge of the old road and end up down near the River. Evidently there was a vehicle off the road as well. There was plastic ribbon and a length of fire fighting hose left at the site. The responders who went over that edge for the fire and body had guts to do that work.

Here is the initial and a follow up article that deemed the death "suspicious"

Reported Crash With a Fatality and Fire off Hwy 96 – Redheaded Blackbelt

Body Found With Yesterday’s Crash Off Hwy 96 Deemed Suspicious Death – Redheaded Blackbelt

Quoting myself. The fatality identity has been released to public and is being investigated as possible homicide. I have no idea why font is so large and how to reduce.

IN AN APPARENT HOMICIDE, MCKINLEYVILLE MAN FOUND DEAD IN VEHICLE THAT WENT OVER THE EMBANKMENT NEAR ORLEANS

The body of a man located in vehicle that went over a steep embankment near Orleans on August 24 has been identified as a possible homicide victim and as 64-year-old Robert Mark Coffer of McKinleyville, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department said today.

Coffer’s body was located in a suspicious crash that occurred about 2:30 p.m. in a remote area near the small town of Orleans in northern Humboldt. A fire started near the crash though it is unclear if the fire was caused by the crash or if was started independently. A helicopter was brought in to fight the fire.

The Sheriff’s Office has not released details about the fire nor the crash.

Below is the full press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified a deceased individual located near Orleans on Aug. 24, 2020 as 64-year-old Robert Mark Coffer of McKinleyville. Coffer’s death is being investigated as a homicide.

This is an active investigation. To protect the integrity of this investigation, further information will be released when available and appropriate.

Anyone with information about this case (Case Number Reference: 202004177) is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

In an Apparent Homicide, McKinleyville Man Found Dead in Vehicle That Went Over the Embankment Near Orleans – Redheaded Blackbelt

 

[mlhenn]

Several dozen families of murdered, missing Indigenous people rally outside Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office – Times-Standard

“There’s a lot of people that go missing all the time in Humboldt County,” James said. Humboldt County has a large number of cold cases, she said, “which is crazy to think about — how many people don’t have answers. People want answers.”

These are people’s brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, James said, “and it sucks when nothing gets done about it.”

Jesse Armstrong is a local advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous people and the organizer of the rally.

Armstrong noted Virgil Bussell went missing March 21 “and it took them three weeks to get a detective.”

“We want to get on these cases right away,” Armstrong said. “Within a 24-hour, 36-hour period. I’m really tired of these cases taking so long to get a detective.”

 

[mlhenn]

Not Invisible: Protest Seeks Justice for Missing, Murdered Native People

Additional article
Earlier this week, under a Sept. 9 sky tinted orange from nearby fires in front of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, a crowd of demonstrators gathered to bring awareness to the disproportionate number of missing and murdered Native people in Humboldt County and the greater Emerald Triangle. The gathering was organized by Jesse Armstrong, a missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW) activist, who said the protest sought to give voice to the families of the missing and murdered and compel local law enforcement to do more in the search for justice.

Nearly 150 demonstrators held up portraits of missing and murdered indigenous peoples such as Virgil Bussell Junior, Nick Vigil, Khadijah Britton, Jules Tripp, and many others.

 

[burblestein]

Let's not forget Rachel Sloan CA - Rachel Sloan, 23, Longvale, Mendocino County, 13 May 2013

 

[burblestein]

And then there's CA - Andrea Jerri White, 22, Humboldt, 31 July 1991