After investigating a call about two gunshot victims on Porter Creek Road, detectives have determined no crime was committed and the call was unfounded.
Yesterday at approximately 2:15 p.m., a man called the non-emergency investigations line with secondhand information that there was a possible shooting scene on Porter Creek Road in Santa Rosa. The caller said he had been told there was a woman in the 4300 block of Porter Creek Road with two gunshot victims. Deputies quickly responded to determine if anyone was on the property, which had burned during the 2017 wildfires.
As deputies responded, the information received by dispatch began to change. The man was calling on behalf of a woman in Santa Rosa, who heard it from a woman in Mendocino County. The woman in Mendocino County is known to law enforcement. The information was vague and conflicting.
Deputies walked through the property, guided by Henry 1. They found nobody was on the property and determined that no crime was occurring at that moment. They also found a patch of disturbed soil on an adjacent property. Detectives were called to start an investigation and deputies guarded the property in case any bodies or evidence were found. Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office assisted by finding and interviewing the woman in Mendocino County who originally made this claim. Detectives worked through the night to figure out what information, if any, was legitimate.
The patch of disturbed soil was actually located on an adjacent property. That property owner was uninvolved, unaware of the situation, and completely cooperative. The neighboring property owner allowed the Sheriff’s Office to come onto his property to determine if a body was buried. This morning detectives dug the area to determine if any crime had occurred, and did not find any bodies or evidence of foul play.
We take every call seriously and we exhausted all the leads in this case. Ultimately, we determined that no bodies were buried on the property as initially reported. The investigation is closed. We’d like to thank the neighboring property owner for being cooperative and helping us close this case.
Prepared by: Misti D. Wood, Community Engagement Liaison
Case no: 190827-016
Media Inquiries: 707-565-3941
