Body Found Along Hite’s Cover Trail Just Outside Yosemite Identified
Ok, now I’ve been trying to piece this one together but things just aren’t adding up. The body of a 65 year old Greenbrae man who was reported missing a month ago after a trip to Mariposa County was found naked along the Hites Cove trail. His rental car was found not at the Hite’s Cove trailhead as one might suspect, but in Oakhurst miles away.
Marin Independent Journal: “Leslie Jerde, a drycleaning businessman, failed to return home as expected on Oct. 18 after a trip to Mariposa County, said Twin Cities police Detective Sean Kerr. Police opened a missing persons case and confirmed that Jerde stayed at the Mariposa Lodge and had rented a car in the area.
On Oct. 27, two hikers in the Hite’s Cove area came upon the body of a naked man in the trail. The man was later identified as Jerde. His rental car was recovered in Oakhurst, about 25 miles from Mariposa.
The cause of death has not been determined, and toxicology tests are pending, a spokeswoman for the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
‘There was no obvious trauma to the body,’ Undersheriff Brian Muller told the Mariposa Gazette.”
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November 26th, 2007 17:17
You’re right things aren’t adding up on this one. My husband of 26 years (24 when he went missing), also a business man, went missing on his lunch break from CitiGroup’s Command Center in Las Vegas, NV on May 19, 2005. He too had a rental car which we had been renting this car from Budget for sometime. There was a supposable siting of him at Chukchansi Indian Casino at the ATM in June of 2005. Our bank account was accessed on 2 days, 4 times, 2 days apart at around the exact same time on each of those days. I never believed it was him but law enforcement wouldn’t secure the tape for me to know for sure.
My husband is a retired USMC MSGT, he’s retired from Sprint and was a rehire by CitiGroup. He was an IT guy. He started on computers before most of us even knew what a computer was. He worked for a financial institution, obviously he knew there would be cameras on him if accessed our joint bank account through an ATM. Plus I had the card listed as stolen after this happened but this was his account that he was the primary on and he never had the card reinstated.
If this guy was found naked and his debit card had been used at an ATM could it be the killer took the clothes of the person to make it look like he was that person and then used their ATM card?
The rental car my husband went missing in turned up months later, in August of 2005 in valet parking at a casino. It showed up mysteriously the day after an auto theft detective was having Budget list it as embezelled.
There has been no activity, cell phone, bank accounts, email accounts, IRS, Social Security …. nothing. He’s not even getting his retirements. He was so proud of his military retirement that’s not something he would just leave behind.
There’s a good chance you have another body up there and it could just be my husband.
If you come up with anymore information on this guy they found please let me know. Did he have grey hair? How tall was he and how much did he weigh? Had he planned to be in that area?
Maureen
Wife of missing USMC (Ret.) MSGT Jon R. Van Dyke
www.reintjes.us