The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office released a comprehensive report Monday which shows that deaths due to alcohol and other drugs continue to rise. The report, compiled by HCSO public information specialist Samantha Karges and Humboldt County Coroner’s Office legal office assistant Brent Ferguson and reviewed by the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, examined […]
Ernie Stewart
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A Deadly Year in Humboldt: 2017 Marks Record for Road Deaths
The holiday weekend passed without a single motor vehicle death, a rarity for our often rainy and treacherous roads (the Arcata California Highway Patrol office did report nine DUI arrests and five total crashes). But Humboldt County still exceeds the national average on two tragic statistics: Motor vehicle deaths and accidental overdoses. As the Journal […]
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Human Remains Found on Eel River
A person canoeing the Eel River on Sunday found human remains close to Stafford. Due to their extreme state of decomposition, the coroner’s office has not been able to learn the sex or any other identifying features of the body. Chief Deputy Coroner Ernie Stewart said it appeared the body had been there “quite some […]
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Humboldt Hits Grim Mark: Suicides at Five Year Peak
The recent death of a 30-year-old man from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head brings the county to 40 suicides in 2015, its highest mark in five years, surpassing its 2012 total of 37, according to numbers from the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office. It also places Humboldt County at nearly three times the California […]
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Two Recent Vehicle Fatalities Bring Humboldt’s 2015 Road Deaths to 27
A fatal crash on Saturday and another yesterday morning bring the year’s total road deaths up to 27. As reported in our September cover story, Humboldt County has one of the highest rates of vehicle fatalities in the nation and this year is on pace to break previous records for road deaths. Saturday’s crash occurred as […]
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Drowning Deaths for 2015 at Seven Year High
Aaron Coffelt, a 44-year-old Rio Dell man who was pulled from the Eel River near his home last Thursday, was the county’s 12th drowning of 2015. That’s the most drowning deaths recorded in at least seven years, eclipsing the 10 reported in 2013. Meteorologist Troy Nicolini of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said […]
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Reported Drowning in Willow Creek would be Eighth of 2015
The grim toll of this year’s drowning deaths may rise, according to the Humboldt County Coroner’s office, which announced in a press release that a 33-year-old Oregon man, Justin Russell Lawrence Bennich, was pulled from the water at Willow Creek’s Kimtu swimming hole after becoming unresponsive on July 4. Chief Deputy Coroner Ernie Stewart said […]
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North Coast Drownings on Record Pace
Bobby Allan Root, a 20-year-old from Vicksburg, Michigan who enjoyed sketching and a good Will Ferrell movie is presumed drowned after going missing in the ocean off the North Coast on March 24. Root had been in Humboldt County visiting some friends when, on an overcast day, he dove into the Pacific Ocean at the […]
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UPDATED: Supes Consider Post-Consolidation Pay Bump for Sheriff
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, after less than 15 minutes of discussion, voted unanimously to approve the pay increase requested for Sheriff Mike Downey to compensate him for the extra duties he’s taking on in the wake of his office consolidating that of the coroner-public administrator. Each member of the board stressed before […]
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Drowning Victim Identified as 33-Year-Old Eurekan
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the man who drowned in Redwood Creek after a rafting accident Friday afternoon as 33-year-old Jonathan Walsh Mellon, of Eureka. “We’re viewing this as an unfortunate accident,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Stewart, adding he doesn’t anticipate any criminal investigation stemming from Mellon’s death. According to the sheriff’s office, […]