Coast Guard Auxiliary officer commits suicide amid child molestation allegations

9-29-15 California:

A former U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary vice commander charged last year with molesting two 16-year-old boys committed suicide this week following new allegations in a similar case, authorities said Tuesday.

Trent Corbett Kelly, 45, was discovered about 5:40 p.m. Monday when lifeguards and Redondo Beach firefighters reeled in the anchor of his boat and found him tied to it, police and coroner’s officials said.

Voter registration records listed a Redondo Beach address for Kelly but he previously lived in Manhattan Beach and Torrance.

Torrance police arrested Kelly on Sept. 15, according to county jail records. The arrest stemmed from a child molestation allegation that occurred several years ago, before the recent case that sent him to prison after a plea bargain with prosecutors, Torrance police Sgt. Paul Kranke said. He was released after posting $600,000 bail.

A man found dead floating in the Mississippi River on May 12 has been identified as a 27 year old from Houma

6-1-15 Louisiana:

A body found floating in the Mississippi River on May 12 has been identified as a 27-year-old from Houma.

Anthony Ferguson‘s body was recovered after an hours-long recovery operation on May 12 near Port Sulphur, Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Lonnie Greco said in a news release.

Ferguson’s identity had eluded authorities for weeks. The corpse was found in a state of extreme decomposition, and police initially had little to go on other than a macabre tattoo of a skull found on the body’s left chest. But the Louisiana State Police crime lab was able to use DNA to positively identify Ferguson on May 27.

Ferguson’s car was discovered abandoned on the Crescent City Connection on March 11. Matey said she would not speculate about whether Ferguson committed suicide, but that no foul play was suspected in his death.

CBS News 8 investigates: The death of Ronald Tatro

11-22-2014 California:

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) -- We are learning more about one of the men implicated in the murder of 14-year-old Claire Hough at Torrey Pines State Beach 30 years ago.

Last month, San Diego police officers initially reported that Ronald Tatro died in a Tennessee boating accident in 2011. But, newly obtained incident reports, autopsy records and evidence photos are leading to questions about whether Tatro may have committed suicide.

Ronald Clyde Tatro, 67, drowned in Tennessee's Holston River in 2011.

Two fishermen found his body floating face down in three feet of water. His boat was found six miles upstream, according to an incident report from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).

“I know some of his personal effects were found in the boat,” said Eddie Williams, an employee with Hawkins County EMS.

DC Police Officer Marc Washington facing child porn charges found dead

12-11-2013 Washington DC:

WASHINGTON - A D.C. police officer facing child pornography charges apparently committed suicide one day after being released from jail.

Marc Washington was found unconscious in the Washington Channel near Hains point just after 8 p.m. Tuesday.

He had just been fitted with a GPS monitoring bracelet.

Washington was freed from jail Monday morning and was on his own until Tuesday when he was given a GPS ankle bracelet and told to go home where he would be under house arrest.

But instead of going to Waldorf, Md., the 32-year-old apparently drove himself to Hains Point where he may have jumped into the frigid waters of the Washington Channel.

FOX 5 has been closely following this case since the Seventh District officer was arrested last week. Now a timeline is starting to come together.

We now know Washington was released from the cellblock at U.S. District Court Monday morning and told to show up at the Pretrial Services Agency at 633 Indiana Avenue, NW, where he would be placed into the high intensity supervision program.

Eau Claire swim coach drowned himself after child porn arrest

8-27-2013 Wisconsin:

A man who drowned Friday in Lake Wissota apparently committed suicide just hours after law enforcement officers arrested him and found photos of nude girls during a search of his house, according to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

Daniel P. Weggel, 32, of Washington was an assistant high school boys swimming coach in the Eau Claire school district.

Eau Claire County sheriff's deputies seized computers and other electronics, which authorities say show Weggel hid cameras in his home, the girls' homes and other locations to secretly record them.

Weggel, found with cinder blocks tied to his legs, left a suicide note, officials said. ..Source.. by Ashley Luthern

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Nude girls’ images found on drowning victim’s computer

In the confiscated computer files belonging to a 32-year-old town of Washington man who drowned Friday in Lake Wissota, authorities found images of nude underage girls among the numerous photos that appeared to have been captured without the girls’ knowledge.

Man found dead in pond near Conway

9-20-2012 South Carolina:

A man was found dead in a pond near Conway on Thursday afternoon, according to authorities.

The Horry County dive team pulled Lester Causey Jr. from a pond near the street he was from around 3 pm, officials said.

According to Horry County Police Sgt. Robert Kegler, Causey was found in a pond off Oak Log Lake Road, just off SC 905, outside Conway around 1 p.m.

Deputy Coroner Darris Fowler said that Causey, 44, was from Oak Log Lake Road, but might not have been living there when he died.

Friday Fowler said the preliminary cauuse of death is drowning but the complete autopsy report will take months. There were no signs of foul play.

Searches of the J. Reuben Long Detention Center website found several past charges against Causey, including probation violations in March and a harassment in the second degree charge from mid-June of this year.

Police: Body Found In River Is Convicted Child Rapist

3-23-2012 Tennessee:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Metro Police announced Thursday that the body removed from the Cumberland River Wednesday afternoon was convicted child rapist Dwight Farris.

Sources at the scene had previously identified the body as Farris to NewChannel 5 reporters.

Police arrived on the scene just after 5 p.m. Wednesday.

"Fire department and OEM responded and within about 30 minutes they did find a body, possibly a male subject. We believe it might be the person who threatened to commit suicide a couple of weeks ago," said Captain Natalie Lokey of the Metro Nashville Police Department.

The body was found caught up in a fallen tree along the banks of the Cumberland River near the Rock Harbor Marina in west Nashville.

Police said 52-year-old Farris had disappeared on March 8 after fleeing the Davidson County Court House during a sex crimes trial.

In lieu of his disappearance, Farris was convicted of three counts of rape, five counts of sexual battery by an authority figure, five counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, one count of displaying sex acts to a minor and one count of criminal exposure to HIV. The convictions related to his sexual relations with a 14-year-old male family friend.

Officials said that during his trial Farris was free on bond and wearing a GPS monitoring device. When police sought the signal for the device they found it had stopped sending a signal just before Farris fled. Farris was last seen on 1st Avenue North & Gay Street in downtown Nashville.

According to reports, Farris' niece flagged down a police officer that night and informed him her Uncle did not want to go to jail and would jump off a bridge. Police said that there were no reports of anyone jumping from a bridge that night.

Farris was out on a $250,000 bond during his trial, and there was a hearing set later this week to collect that bond. ..Source.. by News Channel5.com

Escambia Bay body identified

3-19-2012 Florida:

A preliminary identification has been made regarding the body boaters discovered Saturday morning in Escambia Bay.

Investigators used a GPS ankle monitor to tentatively identify the body found as the remains of Patrick Willingham, 29, of Pensacola.

According to Sgt. Scott Haines with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, Willingham was on a GPS monitor through State Probation in Escambia County as he was a register sex offender.

Willingham, who had been reported missing to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 22 of last year by his family.

Officers with the Florida Highway Patrol discovered Willingham’s abandoned vehicle just east of the 17-mile marker on the Escambia Bay Bridge, Dec. 21.

According to Haines, Willingham’s GPS monitor last transmitted on Dec. 20, at 9 a.m. from the top of the Escambia Bay Bridge.

State Probation received a notification that Willingham had travelled too far from his base unit and the monitor could not be tracked.

No foul play is suspected in Willingham’s death, according to Haines, but the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit checked the area with boats on Dec. 22 and the Florida Wildlife Commission checked the waterways on Dec. 28, but both searches were met with negative results.

According to Haines, individuals testing a boat discovered the body floating in Escambia Bay around 11:30 a.m.

The boaters, who were not identified by Haines, remained on the scene until units from Avalon Fire and Rescue, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and Lifeguard Ambulance responded to the scene.

Just before 3 p.m. members of Avalon Fire and Rescue, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida District 1 Medical Examiners Office left Archie Glover Boat Ramp to recover the body.

A positive identification of the body will be done through further analysis of the remains according to Haines.

According to Haines, the body appeared to have been in the bay for a lengthy period of time.

A fisherman, who would not give his name, said he and a fishing partner caught a couple of red fish early Saturday morning near piling 90. Later Saturday morning they returned to the piling to catch more fish when a boat informed them about it being a crime scene.

Despite the investigation, the Archie Glover Boat Ramp was busy with boats being launched for fishing and boating excursions.

"The fog was really intense this morning," said A.J. Ward of Pace, who was fishing with friends Saturday morning. "The fog finally lifted around 11 a.m., but we were back and forth across the bay between the bridge and the train tracks and didn't see anything all morning.

"Early on it was like our own private lake since visibility in some spots was limited to 20 yards and 100 yards in others since the fog was so thick.” ..Source.. by Santa Fosa Press

PA- Sex offender’s body found in Delaware River

8-25-2008 Pennsylvania:

The body of a convicted sex offender was found floating in the Delaware River yesterday, a day after he was to have been sentenced in Montgomery County Court, police said.

James Pierce, 62, apparently jumped from the Tacony Palmyra Bridge on his birthday, Monday, leaving behind a note inside his parked car. Pierce, who had addresses in Telford and Philadelphia, faced 10 to 20 years in prison on the sex offender charge, police said.

His body was spotted shortly after 3 p.m. yesterday near a boat ramp on the 5800 block of Tacony Street. ..News Source.. by Sam Wood

CO- Drowning called suicide

7-26-2006 Colorado:

A Longmont computer engineer accused of luring a 13-year-old girl over the Internet for sex drowned himself, authorities said Monday.

The body of Sunil Mehta, 28, was found Friday in McCall Lake, about three miles west of Longmont. His death has been ruled suicide by drowning, according to the Boulder County coroner's office.

Mehta was arrested July 7 in Westminster after allegedly arranging to meet a Jefferson County investigator who was posing as a girl online.

They met after a series of explicit Internet chat sessions over nearly a month in which the "girl" was told to "keep it our dirty lil secret."

Mehta, who was free on bail, was facing charges of Internet luring of a child, enticement of a child and attempted sexual assault on a child, all felonies.

His wife and a friend reported him missing Thursday night.

Two suicide notes were found in his home, leading authorities to the city-owned lake, where his car and another suicide note were found, said Longmont police Cmdr. Craig Earhart. ..more.. by Rocky Mountain News

FL- List of men sentenced in last year's 'Operation Cyber Hawk' sting

4-7-2008 Florida:

More than two dozen men were arrested when the Polk County Sheriff's Office held a four-day sting in late March 2007 dubbed "Operation Cyber Hawk." Several of the men pleaded guilty and have been sentenced, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Among them:

Richard Gaugh, who told detectives he was a part-time instructor at Disney, was sentenced to five years in prison. When he gets out, Gaugh, 56, who lived in Ormond Beach, will serve five years probation and has to register as a sex offender.

Julio Segundo, who was an intern at Disney for research and development, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Segundo, 22, will also serve three years probation.

Michael Rypel, 31, an unemployed laborer from Clermont, pleaded guilty and was recently sentenced to three years in prison, two years community control and two years probation.

Jonathan Tompkins, 20, of Melbourne, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 21 months in prison followed by two years sex offender community control, then two years and three months sex offender probation.

Milton Roe, 43, who worked for Pulte Homes in Tampa, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison followed by five years probation. His case is under appeal.

Johnson Wong, an Apopka man whose employment was unknown, committed suicide after the sting. The Medical Examiner's office said Wong, 35, was found dead in Lake Virginia in July. He drowned and the death was ruled a suicide.

Several months after "Operation Cyber Hawk," the Sheriff's Office held another several-day sting. That undercover operation, dubbed "Operation Guardian," lead to the arrests of 25 men in July. As in the previous operation, most of the men did not live in Polk County.

Most of the men arrested in that operation have not gone to trial or pleaded. But Angel Lopez, 29, of Orlando, was convicted by a jury and is scheduled for sentencing in May. He told police he was a driver for a rental car company. Michael Haas, 33, of Deltona pleaded guilty and was recently sentenced to two years community control followed by eight years probation. ..more.. by