RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
Grandmother finds missing man in trunk of car
| Wednesday, Aug 27 2008 8:59 AM
Last Updated: Friday, Oct 24 2008 10:20 AM
Bonnie Roe struggled to open her grandson’s car until a man helped her with the handle. When she saw what was inside she closed it quickly.
Photos:
The body of a man found in the trunk of a car on Palm Drive near Flower Street in Bakersfield is removed from the area.
Kern County Sheriff's personnel arrive at the scene where a body of a man was found in the trunk of a car on Palm Drive near Flower Street in Bakersfield.
Kern County Sheriff's investigators view the body of a man found in the trunk of a car on Palm Drive near Flower Street in Bakersfield.
“He was stuffed in the trunk,” Roe said about her grandson, Elliott Chase Roe. “It was horrible.”
The grandmother found the body of her missing grandson Tuesday morning stuffed in his white Toyota Camry parked in the 1600 block of Palm Drive, according to the coroner’s office.
An autopsy performed Wednesday on Elliott Roe's body has not determined the victim’s cause of death.
The coroner’s office is awaiting toxicology test results.
Roe had been missing since Thursday night, according to family members. The 25-year-old man with black hair and blue eyes was supposed to call his grandmother that night after he went out for errands.
“He always called back,” Bonnie Roe said.
Thinking that he would show up in the next couple of days, Bonnie and her husband, Marvin Roe, declined to file a missing persons report. The couple raised the victim since he was 14.
The grandmother found his car while driving around on Tuesday. The car was about two miles away from where Elliott Roe lived.
“Someone had to put him in the trunk,” she said as she fought back tears.
The family could not tell the body was him until police pulled out the victim’s wallet and cut a part of left pant leg to show Roe’s tattoo, the couple said.
“There was no trauma, no blood,” Marvin Roe said. “The smell was bad.”
There was a strong smell of decomposition coming from the trunk, Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Michael Whorf said. It’s unknown how long the body was there and there were no obvious signs of trauma, but the death was being investigated as a suspected homicide.
Neighbors differed on when they first saw the car. Some said the vehicle was parked for several days and another said the car first appeared Tuesday morning.
The Roes said he was not in any trouble and they have no idea who would do this to their grandson.
Elliott Roe graduated from East Bakersfield High School and joined the Marines at age 21, family said. He was honorably discharged because of health problems, family said.
Elliott Roe had worked for a sign company. He was recently unemployed.
“He was very lovable,” Bonnie Roe said. “He would have given you his shirt if you needed it.”
An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at 861-3110.