A Murder-Mystery Resurfaces In Recent Winter Storm

Thursday, February 13, join us for our, A-Bit-and-A-Bite, lunch hour program at the Mendocino County Museum. Museum volunteer, Carol Cox, will share the wild story behind a headstone that recently surfaced during a winter storm. This is the second A-Bit-and-A-Bite event and is part of an ongoing series of fun, casual, spotlights on County History. Light snacks are provided, and all are welcome. Sponsored by the Friends of the Mendocino County Museum.

For more information: For more information, please visit www.mendocinocounty.org/museum or call (707) 234-6365.

Jayma Shields Spence Notes:

The mystery headstone washed up on our property during a flooding event in the Laytonville Subdivision where my husband Roland and I live. Debris from upstream clogged a culvert across from our house and water began to rush over the road into our front yard. Thankfully, I happened to be home looking out our front window and saw the water rushing over the road towards our house. I yelled to Roland and he swiftly jumped into action. After a few attempts to unclog the culvert ourselves, he ran to our neighbor’s property, where Dan Vanoven and Ivo Shere happened to be working. Ivo jumped into Albert’s backhoe and cleared the debris with the machine. Tangled up in fencing material/cages were large chunks of wood, debris and a concrete block. The pile was moved to our property. A week or so later, Roland was working to clean up the pile and discovered half of a concrete grave marker. I posted the picture of the grave marker on Facebook.

And Karen Matson was tagged in the post, she is the director of the Mendocino County Museum. She contacted me and asked about the grave marker. Museum volunteer Carol Cox thought it was that of Clarence E. Tracy. I googled his name and found that Zack Anderson of the Anderson Valley Advertiser did an excellent, comprehensive piece on the infamous murder case: https://theava.com/archives/146571

(via Jim Shields)