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Yotsie

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Location
Modesto, CA
# of dives
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Alcohol + Pickup truck + Canal = Dead Friend

What the following stories don't say is both were falling down drunk. They were spinning donuts on the canal bank and spun off into the canal. The canal they ended up in is lined with huge chunks of broken concrete and rebar. We recovered the truck, but were not going to hazard a diver for a body search, especially after getting three different accounts of what happened by the survivor. He was located about 3 miles south of where he went in.

Autopsy showed Corona had blunt force trauma to the back of the head just above the neck, our Homicide guys are on it now.


Man missing after wreck

By MICHAEL MELLO
BEE STAFF WRITER


Last Updated: August 14, 2006, 03:10:16 PM PDT


A Modesto man remains missing today after he and his friend drove into an irrigation canal near Hughson on Saturday night, and they were swept into the water trying to get out, authorities said.
Search teams have been unable to locate Gerardo Corona, 21.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Corona was a passenger in a pickup driven by Kristopher Rodrick, 23, of Fresno. They had been drinking earlier at a party and Rodrick was driving recklessly on the canal bank around midnight when the Chevrolet spun into the water, Sgt. Ted Melden said.

Corona and Rodrick were unhurt, but were swept into the water trying to climb out of the canal. Rodrick was able to scramble up the bank, but it appeared Corona went under the water and never resurfaced, officer Don Davis said.

Rodrick left the scene and didn't call authorities until Sunday morning, hours after the wreck, Melden said. And when he did, he reported the truck as stolen to the Modesto Police Department. He called MPD again around 3 p.m. Sunday to recant the report, and police notified the Highway Patrol.

"There's not a lot we can do when they sit on this stuff for 15 hours," Melden said. "Even if you drink, when something like this happens, you've got to call emergency services."

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Bee or www.modbee.com







Police: No sign of truck's passenger in canal

By MICHAEL MELLO
BEE STAFF WRITER


Last Updated: August 15, 2006, 09:27:47 AM PDT


HUGHSON — A Modesto man remained missing Monday after the truck he was riding in Saturday night went into an irrigation canal, authorities said.
A Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department dive team was unable to find Gerardo Corona, 21.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Corona was in a pickup driven by Kristopher Rodrick, 23, of Fresno. They had been drinking earlier at a party near Hughson, Sgt. Ted Melden said, and about midnight Rodrick was spinning doughnuts on a canal bank near Whitmore and Downie roads, about five miles east of Hughson. One of the stunts spun the pickup into the water, Melden said.

The pair were unhurt, but were swept into the water trying to climb out of the canal. Rodrick scrambled up the bank, but it appeared Corona went under the water and never resurfaced, officer Don Davis said.

"He called out (Corona's) name for a while, and then left," Davis said. "He didn't tell anybody and just walked away."

Rodrick left the scene and didn't alert authorities until about 9 a.m. Sunday, Melden said, when Rodrick called the Modesto Police Department to report his truck stolen.

About 3 p.m. Sunday, he called Modesto police again to recant the theft story and said that the truck went into a canal, Melden said.

Deputies searched the canal, but found no one, according to deputy Royjindar Singh.

The department called off further searches Sunday, when Rodrick changed his story several times about whether he had a passenger in the truck when he went into the canal, Singh said.

The Sheriff's Department did take a missing persons report on Corona, but the rest of the investigation has been turned over to the California Highway Patrol, Singh said.

As of Monday evening, authorities hadn't heard from Corona or anyone who had seen him. With the amount of time that had passed between the accident and the search team's arrival, Cor-ona could have escaped alive, wound up far downstream in the canal or crawled into one of the many orchards in the area, Melden said.

"There's not a lot we can do when they sit on this stuff for 15hours," Melden said. "People get scared and they think lying to the police will help. Even if you drink, when something like this happens, you've got to call emergency services."

CHP investigators are considering whether charges — such as driving under the influence — should be brought against Rodrick. However, the Highway Patrol is investigating the incident as a noninjury accident because the men fell into the canal after they emerged from the truck, Melden said.

The CHP asks anyone with information about Corona or the accident to call 545-7440 or 356-2900 and ask to speak to a Modesto supervisor.

Bee staff writer Michael Mello can be reached at 667-1227 or mmello@modbee.com





Missing man's body found in canal
21-year-old disappeared after a truck crash near Hughson

By ROSALIO AHUMADA
BEE STAFF WRITER


Last Updated: August 16, 2006, 05:29:03 AM PDT


Stanislaus County deputies pulled a Modesto man's body out of a canal Tuesday morning, more than two days after he went missing after a truck crash near Hughson.
The body of Gerardo Corona, 21, was found in the Turlock Irrigation District Main Canal, just north of Keyes Road between Downie and Hickman roads, sheriff's spokesman Royjindar Singh said.

Family members identified the body Tuesday afternoon at the coroner's office.

Singh said a TID worker spotted the floating body at 7:09 a.m. and called authorities.

Corona was pulled out of the canal more than four miles south of where he went missing late Saturday.

The California Highway Patrol is heading the investigation, but as of Tuesday afternoon no charges had been filed against Kristopher Rodrick, 23, of Fresno, the driver of the pickup.

Witnesses told CHP officers that Rodrick and Corona had been drinking at a party near Hughson before the crash.

Singh said Rodrick changed his story several times about whether he had a passenger in the truck when he went into the canal.

CHP spokesman Tom Killian said Rodrick's latest account is that both men made it out of the vehicle and onto the truck's bed before Corona went under water.

Killian said they will wait for the autopsy report on Corona before they start piecing together facts.

"Right now, this is just a property damage accident," Killian said. "But if we find out that (Corona) was rendered unconscious due to the impact from the collision or he suffered fatal injuries due to the impact, then this will turn into a fatal accident."

That could result in charges against Rodrick, he said.

On Monday, CHP Sgt. Ted Melden said Rodrick had been spinning doughnuts before the crash on a canal bank near East Whitmore Avenue and Downie Road, about five miles east of Hughson. One of the spins sent the pickup into the water, Melden said.

What happened next is unclear, Killian said.

What is known is that Rodrick left the scene and didn't alert authorities until about 9 a.m. Sunday, when he called the Modesto Police Department to report his truck stolen.

About six hours later, he called Modesto police again to recant the theft story and said the truck went into a canal.

Killian said a blood alcohol test on Rodrick was not possible, since he waited 15 hours before he told Modesto police the pickup went in the canal.

The CHP asks anyone with information about the accident, or who might have seen Rodrick and Corona before it happened, to call 545-7440 or 356-2900 and ask to speak to a Modestosupervisor.

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at 578-2394 or rahumada@modbee.com
 
OH, I wasn't driving or my rig was stolen are just getting way to old. We need a shoot on sight law if they keep using it.

Gary D.
 
Exactly.... In just about all the stories the survivor told, the dead kid was at fault... I really hope the Homicide dets hold this kids feet to the fire on this one...
 
well who's going to argue with your story if you blame the dead guy.....I mean "he's Dead the cops can't lock him up" so you might as well blame him.....I just think the real punishment is the guy who lived has to "Live with Himself" most folks will never be the same after a situation like that. And do you really think it bothers the cops when they bust a kids balls soo much and they kill themselves. I just have a problem with how some things are handled by the KGB....sorry thats Police we don't have that in the USA...yea right
 
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