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Crown King Accident Fatal for Couple

Yavapai County Map Area CommandsSedona AZ (April 21, 2014) – Yesterday, April 20, 2014, around 11:30 AM, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputies were contacted regarding a missing married couple last seen the prior evening (April 19) in the town of Crown King,  Arizona. The couple, John Mendoza, 44, and Lisa Gutierrez, 42, from El Mirage, Arizona, left Crown King around 10:00 in the evening on Saturday in their 1969 Jeep, which included special off-road modifications. Some friends of the couple followed them out of town, but the Jeep eventually pulled ahead out of sight and they were not seen again.

The following morning (April 20), friends of the couple located John and Lisa’s SUV and trailer which they used to transport the Jeep to an area near Cow Creek Road and Castle Hot Springs. Parking at this location provided the couple access on an unpaved road to Crown King from the north end of Lake Pleasant. John and Lisa could not be found anywhere and were not answering cell phones.

Friends of the couple were notified and began searching the road towards Crown King from where the SUV was parked. YCSO was contacted around 11:30 a.m. and began calling out search and rescue teams.

Around 1:30 p.m., the Jeep was located by friends of the couple in a steep ravine near the intersection of Forest Road 711 and 192. Deputies and personnel from the Crown King Fire department hiked to the crash site and determined John and Lisa had died as result of the accident. Lisa’s body was found inside the Jeep seat belted. John had apparently been ejected and his body was found nearby. At this time, it is unknown if he had been wearing a seat belt.

The Jeep cab is constructed of a steel roll cage with a top plate that came off when the vehicle rolled. The doors are made of smaller steel plates. Fire personnel and YCSO deputies recovered the bodies for transportation to the medical examiner.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. Citizens can contact the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office with information or questions at 928-771-3260 or the YCSO website at www.ycsoaz.gov.

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1 Comment

  1. Haridas Kayarat says:

    Hi , We made trip to Crown king Via FR 711 from Lake pleasant on last Friday Veteran’s day. It was an awesome experience with family. We were trying to find some details about the rusted over turned vehicle we saw and I guess this is the one.
    One question though before we saw this vehicle on steep slope we saw two white sedans one on each side. We are eager to know the story on those. It was unbelievable that 2 sedan’s made their way up there.
    Thank you very much
    Best Regards
    Haridas

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