Modern technology helped police solve one mystery, but many more remain.
According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, law enforcement officials with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in California used a drone to locate the body of a woman tentatively identified as 48-year-old Patricia Portella-Wright of Kings Beach, California.
Meanwhile, according to KXTV, 55-year-old Brent Chandler Clifford, son of Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford, faces a murder charge.
Police took the younger Clifford into custody on Wednesday. He remains in South Placer County Jail without the possibility of bail.
At this early stage of an investigation, announcements from law enforcement often feature sketchy details.
In this case, however, the sequence of events makes it more difficult than usual to guess what might have happened.
Portella-Wright, last seen with Clifford on Aug. 4 and reported missing on Aug. 9, was the suspect’s girlfriend. Otherwise, police revealed little about her identity or fate.
On Thursday, PCSO spokesman Lt. Dave Smith told reporters that investigators continue to seek answers.
“Right now, detectives are working to interview anybody that might have information on what occurred: friends, family members, acquaintances,” Smith said.
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The spokesman also confirmed “apparent foul play” in Portella-Wright’s death.
Unfortunately, the suspect’s reported movements bring little clarity to the hazy picture.
On Aug. 9, Clifford traveled to Reno, Nevada, to visit a friend, 68-year-old William Andrews. Two days later, Reno police found Andrews dead of a gunshot wound to the head, per the Gazette-Journal.
Clifford then fled Reno in Andrews’ red 2003 Chevrolet Blazer.
The Gazette-Journal indicated that Portella-Wright was believed to be with Clifford, but the report did not indicate whether she was with him before or after Andrews’ death.
In any event, the drone discovered her body down a steep embankment near Mt. Rose Highway in Nevada.
Thus, according to KTXV, the drone located the body approximately 26 miles from where police found Andrews in Reno.
On Facebook Thursday, the PCSO announced the discovery and ongoing recovery of the body, along with the highway’s temporary closure.
In sum, the Facebook photos showed a very steep embankment.
Thus, in a story filled with otherwise fuzzy details, it appears certain that the police drone discovered a body that might otherwise have remained hidden from human searchers in the mountainous Lake Tahoe region.
Alas, that admirable demonstration of technology-aided police work represents the only positive news likely to emerge from this tragedy.
