Roll Call Tribute

Published in Lake County (Lakeport CA) Record-Bee from July 8 to July 14, 2015

Helen Sharp DVM
Helen Sharp DVM Please join the doctors and staff of Clearlake Veterinary Clinic in remembering Dr. Helen Sharp. A memorial for Dr. Sharp will be held Saturday, July 11, 2015, 2 p.m., at the Moose Lodge, 15900 Highway 20, Clearlake Oaks, CA. A potluck will follow. Please bring a memory and a dish to share. If you have questions please call 994-9100.
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Lake County (CA) News

Vehicle, deceased woman found; sheriff's office confirms vehicle was missing woman's
WEDNESDAY, 17 JUNE 2015 14:19 ELIZABETH LARSON

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The search for a local veterinarian who disappeared last week appears to have ended, with the discovery of her vehicle and a woman's body near Middletown early Wednesday.

Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said authorities have not yet been able to positively identify the body of the woman that was found, but the license plate of the vehicle confirmed that it belonged to 45-year-old Helen Sharp of Hidden Valley Lake.

Messages from friends and family posted on a social media support page dedicated to bringing Sharp home indicated they had been notified that the body was Sharp's.

At 6:30 a.m. Wednesday a property owner contacted Central Dispatch to report he had located a deceased female inside a vehicle on his property, which Brooks said is located in a remote area off of Jerusalem Grade in Middletown.

Brooks said the property owner had gone out hunting early Wednesday when he came upon the gray Toyota 4Runner belonging to Sharp, that she had last been seen in on June 10 after leaving a Middletown-area auto body shop.

Earlier on the day she had disappeared, Sharp had told her employer – Dr. Debi Sally at Clearlake Veterinary Clinic in Clearlake – to cancel her appointments, as Lake County News has reported. Sally said Sharp had been upset about “a variety of things” before her disappearance.

That afternoon, Sharp went to the body shop to pick up the Toyota, which had front-end damage from Sharp hitting a stop sign at Hartmann Road and Highway 29 on June 6. Although the vehicle hadn't been repaired, she left with it anyway, the shop's manager said.

Family told sheriff's detectives that Sharp had an appointment in Calistoga on June 10 that she didn't make, Brooks said.

Her boyfriend had reported her missing sometime late on the afternoon or early evening of June 11, Brooks said, and since then family and friends have circulated fliers and even searched area roads attempting to find her.

Early Wednesday, deputies responded to the location where the property owner had found the vehicle, with the body of a female inside, Brooks said.

He said the deputies noticed the vehicle was a Toyota 4Runner, which matched the description of the vehicle belonging to Sharp.

Central Dispatch ran the license plate through the computer system and advised that Helen Sharp was the vehicle's registered owner, Brooks said.

The deputies were unable to positively identify the individual located inside the vehicle, according to Brooks.

He said the investigation is ongoing and deputies are following up on all possible leads.

The area's rugged terrain made it difficult for authorities and a tow truck to make it to where the vehicle was found, Brooks said.

Deputies remained at the scene on Wednesday afternoon. “They’ve been out there since 6:30 this morning,” Brooks said.

Brooks said an autopsy is being scheduled to positively identify the individual and determine the exact cause of death.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.


LAST UPDATED ( THURSDAY, 18 JUNE 2015 03:47 )