Pilot Wanted in Ashes Fraud Believed Dead

A suicide note found near a decomposed body in rural Calaveras County was signed by Al Vieira, a pilot accused of secretly stockpiling thousands of boxes of cremated human remains, authorities said Wednesday.

The handwritten note found in an abandoned car read in part, “I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Randy Grasmuck. The rest of the note was not revealed.

Grasmuck said the note was left in plain sight next to keys on the dashboard of the station wagon. Most of the note’s contents were intended for one of Vieira’s family members, and that person was being notified, Grasmuck said.

No other details were released.

Vieira, 52, disappeared 2 1/2 weeks ago after authorities unlocked a storage shed packed with thousands of boxes of human ashes he had been paid to scatter.

The severely decomposed body, clad in men’s clothing, was found Tuesday about 250 yards from the abandoned car, which belonged to Vieira’s girlfriend. It was believed that the man shot himself in the temple, sheriff’s deputies said.

Coroner’s investigators hope that dental records, expected today, will help them conclusively identify the body.

“We think it is him, but we cannot say for sure,” Lt. Randy Grasmuck said.

Eleven boxes of cremated remains also were found in the station wagon, which had been parked for about two weeks in the woods on a mountain road running between Fricot City and Sheep Ranch, deputies said.

Vieira last was seen June 5, the day deputies found thousands of boxes of cremated remains in his Discovery Bay storage shed. Two days later, thousands more were found stacked around Vieira’s cobweb-covered plane in a Byron hangar.

His girlfriend, Denise Hembree, 42, turned herself in June 10 in connection with charges of grand theft, conspiracy and filing false documents. She was released pending further investigation.

The nearly 5,000 containers of human ashes appeared to have been piling up since 1986, when Vieira established Vieira’s Flying Service and contracted with about 100 California mortuaries for his bargain services.