The body of a West Hollywood man missing for two weeks was found at the bottom of a steep ravine recently, as a result of another man’s crash landing at the same site and surviving the ordeal.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
Melvin Gelfand, an 88-year old Wehoan, often drove off on a day trip to do some gambling, but failed to arrive home him early September.
Family efforts to locate him, including hiring a private investigator, turned up nothing.
That is, until the victim of a car crash who flew off the same road down the same ravine in the remote mountain area 50 miles north of Los Angeles, 67-year-old David Lavau, crash landed just feet from Mr. Gelfand’s car.
Fortunately for Mr. Lavau, he was able to survive on bugs, leaves and creek water – along with borrowing Mr. Gelfand’s eyeglasses – for nearly a week until his cell phone’s signal could be tracked and a rescue team could locate him.
Apparently Mr. Gelfand turned his cell phone off.
Mr. Lavau underwent surgery for his injuries and is expected to make a full recovery.
Mr. Gelfand’s family told the LA Times that he was accustomed to driving “10 miles away to Hawthorne where he would catch a shuttle to a San Diego-area casino.”
This time, however, he must have gotten turned around and headed northward ending up 70 miles away from his destination after having to navigate sometimes twisting mountain roadways.
Both families are advocating placement of a guard rail at that curve, with Mr. Gelfand’s relative saying, “two cars go off the same spot within a week of each other, is Caltrans paying attention here?”
But son-in-law Will Matlack had more profound advice for children of elders.
He told the Times, “If there’s another thing I’d like to see come of this, it’s getting older people to turn on their cell phones when they leave home,” he said. “They don’t do it because they think no one’s going to call, but it’s not about people calling, it’s about being able to find them.”
