Toxicology reports to determine what killed Turlock sex offender

10-14-2014 California:

Police are awaiting results of toxicology test results before declaring that suicide was the reason for the death of a Turlock man who had pled guilty to sexually abusing a young girl and awaiting sentencing before he was found dead at a Ceres church.

Robert Daniel Gomes, 34, was found dead at 12:44 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 in the parking lot at St. Jude's Catholic Church at 3824 Mitchell Road in Ceres. His body was inside a black Chevy Tahoe parked outside the church.

The death is a suspected suicide from drug overdose, but the investigation will remain open pending toxicology results, according to the Ceres Police Department.

In August Gomes entered guilty pleas to eight felony counts of sexual abuse, including continuous sexual abuse of a child, sodomy, oral copulation, and unlawful sexual intercourse.

Gomes was accused of assaulting a 13-year-old girl over a three year period while he was dating her mother. The victim reported the abuse when she was 16 years old.

Pocatello man who apparently killed himself after leading law enforcement officers on chase had long list of criminal offenses

10-7-2014 Idaho:

POCATELLO – The city man who apparently committed suicide in his car after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed pursuit Saturday night had an extensive criminal history dating back to 2000.

The approximately 25 minute chase ended at a mobile home park off Wilson Avenue when suspect Bryan Seward turned his gun on himself, authorities said. He then involuntarily crashed his vehicle into an unoccupied mobile home. Seward had fired at law enforcement officers from his car after initiating the chase but no one was wounded, authorities said.

The 46-year-old Seward last got in trouble with the law on Oct. 31, 2013, when he was charged with lewd conduct with a child under 16 in Bannock County. The charge carried a penalty enhancement because authorities deemed Seward to be a persistent violator.

Sheriff - Brunswick inmate kills self in cell

9-11-2014 North Carolina:

A Brunswick County jail inmate who earlier this week led police on a car chase apparently killed himself in his cell, an official said.

Michael Rago, 33, was found unresponsive in his jail cell at 11:14 a.m. Thursday, said Brunswick County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Emily Flax.

"He is the victim of an apparent suicide," Flax said in a new release. "During the initial stages of these investigations, there have been no indication of foul play, nor have there been any apparent violation of (sheriff's office) policies and procedures."

Rago and Elizabeth Ashley Ventiquattro, 35, both of Ocean Isle Beach, were arrested Monday after security officers accused the two of shoplifting and returning stolen merchandise for cash at the Walmart in Southport, said Southport Police Chief Jerry Dove.

Scecina coach who died in crash was under voyeurism investigation

10-2-2014 Indiana:

A popular Scecina volleyball coach and teacher who died last month when his SUV crashed into a bridge support was under investigation by the Indiana State Police on suspicion of voyeurism.

Brian Hawkins, 45, was accused of filming sexual encounters with women he met online without their knowledge or permission, according to a search warrant affidavit. The warrant was filed Sept. 22 in Marion County.

The warrant was served the next morning, and hours later, Hawkins' SUV burst into flames after striking a bridge support in the 900 block of South Emerson Avenue. Officials said debris from the crash scattered about 200 feet and Hawkins was killed instantly. He was the only occupant, and flames engulfed the vehicle.

The Marion County coroner's office positively identified Hawkins as the driver of the vehicle, but officials said Thursday that the cause and manner of death are pending further investigation.

2nd Putnam jail inmate in less than three weeks found dead in cell of apparent suicide

10-2-2014 Florida:

A second inmate has died of an apparent suicide at the Putnam County jail in less than three weeks, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

About 1 a.m. Friday, deputies found Dennis Rudy King, 66, unresponsive in his cell. They said King used a rope fashioned from a bedsheet to strangle himself. King was jailed Sept. 30 and was distraught over several child-pornography charges filed after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

King apparently waited until lights were turned out for the night and investigators said no one in surrounding cells heard or knew anything about what happened. He did not have a cell mate.

The case is similar to the Sept. 17 death of Timothy Lawrence Walrath, 39, who also was found asphyxiated by a bed sheet in his cell. Walrath was upset about a possible prison sentence and also waited until lights were doused that night.

Kidnapping suspect found hanged in Mississippi jail

10-2-2014 Mississippi:

Bobby Allen Osborne, 40, a South Carolina registered sex offender arrested in June in the kidnapping of a 13-year-old Southaven girl, was found dead in the Lafayette County Detention Center in Oxford, Mississippi.

Officials said he apparently hanged himself in his jail cell, where he was being held on federal charges that he transported a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity.

Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy said Osborne's death Tuesday appeared "consistent with self-inflicted hanging," according to a report from the Associated Press. An autopsy will be performed.

The investigation and eventual arrest of Osborne, of Anderson, South Carolina, came after the girl's mother reported to Southaven police on June 23 that her daughter had run away from home.