3 Bodies Are Found Near Beach
Investigators tried to determine Wednesday whether the shotgun deaths of three people found on a cliff overlooking a secluded beach were the result of a suicide pact or a homicide.
A group walking above Bonny Doon Beach just north of Santa Cruz discovered the bodies of two women and a man about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
They were identified as David Bachman, 26, Melinda Leippe, 19, and Brenda White, 19, all of Littleton, Colo.
The women had been shot in the chest and Bachman in the head, Santa Cruz County sheriff’s spokesman Kim Allyn said. A shotgun lay near the bodies, which were in a circle.
There were no signs of struggle and no suicide note, Allyn said.
Investigators remained at the scene overnight and removed the bodies about noon Wednesday. They also towed from the beach’s parking lot a white car with Colorado license plates that may have belonged to one of the victims.
The horseshoe-shaped beach, about 7 miles north of Santa Cruz, sits below two rocky bluffs. The public has free access to the privately owned beach, which is known for nude sunbathing and rave parties. Authorities are called there periodically on reports of drug use, sexual assaults and violence.
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