911 dispatcher wonders if he could have done more
»Play Video
WASHINGTON COUNTY - While police try to explain to grieving family members why a 911 call failed to lead authorities to two missing California tourists who wrecked their car, the Washington County dispatcher who took the call is second-guessing one of his own actions.
"It's definitely something I struggled with last night when I was watching the news report," Bruce Botkin, who has worked at Washington County 911 for 16 years, told KATU News.
On June 8, 52-year-old David Schwartz (a Jesuit priest) and 61-year-old Cheryl Gibbs (who worked as a coroner) were heading back to Portland on Highway 26 after a trip to the coast when they disappeared. For three weeks, no one knew where they were and family members and others searched tirelessly for them.
On July 1, the car that the pair had been traveling in was found in a ditch off Highway 26. Inside the car, authorities found the bodies of both Schwartz and Gibbs, who appeared to have died after running their car off the road for an unknown reason and crashing into the thick brush.
Although thankful for closure, the news was heartbreaking for family members. But then came the news that someone had actually seen the car go off the road on June 8 and called 911 to report it. The obvious questions that were raised - if someone had seen the crash, then why wasn't the car found until three weeks later and if the car had been found sooner, could Schwartz and Gibbs have been saved?
The answer to the latter question would turn out to be no, according to the Medical Examiner who found that both died within minutes of the crash. The autopsy results showed that Schwartz likely died in less than a minute.
He suffered blunt force trauma to the chest that caused a laceration of the heart and massive internal bleeding. He also suffered severe neck and spinal cord injuries. Gibbs suffered blunt force trauma to the chest, as well as massive internal bleeding, and also died very quickly.
The answer to the first question is not so easy to determine. We now know that on June 8, a man called 911 and said he had seen a car go off the road along Highway 26. Here is the transcript of that call:
Caller: I want to report an accident on Highway 26. It's about a quarter-mile west of milepost 26. On the north side of the highway.
911 Operator: Do you know if anyone's hurt?
Caller: I don't know. I saw the car just drive straight off the road into the bush.
911 Operator: A quarter-mile west of Highway 26?
Caller: Uh huh. They were headed east and they veered across the oncoming lanes.
911 Operator: Did you see this happen?
Caller: Yes.
911 Operator: One car only?
Caller: One car only. They were headed eastbound.
911 Operator: Did they go off the road or hit a...?
Caller: Oh yeah. You can't even see them from the roadway.
911 Operator: Do you know what kind of vehicle it was?
Caller: It was a compact red. I'm not sure. Some sort of a compact import red.
911 Operator: You don't know if anybody's hurt?
Caller: No, I just went as fast as I could to get to a phone.
911 Operator: I'll give Clatsop County a call and get them started that way. Thank you sir.
Caller: All right. Bye.
After getting off the phone with the witness, Botkin was bounced back and forth with dispatchers in Seaside and Astoria, who had difficulty deciding who should respond to the remote area. This slowed the response time.
"For myself, I don't want to participate in any of those arguments," Botkin said. "I just want to get the help there."
Botkin contacted the Oregon State Police (OSP) and deputies did search for the car, but found nothing.
OSP representatives and Dr. Joanne Stefanelli, the Clatsop County Medical Examiner, met with members of the Schwartz family in Seaside on Tuesday to answer questions. During the meeting, OSP representatives apologized to the family members for not finding the car on June 8. OSP is conducting an incident response review to go over what happened. There is no set date when the review will be completed.
Another meeting was held with family members the same day. In that meeting, OSP Captain Calvin Curths, Northwest Region Commander, and officials from the Portland Police Bureau played a dispatch tape for the family showing the conversation that took place between Washington County dispatch and OSP. Here is the transcript of the call:
OSP: State Police this is Rick, may I help you? Washington County dispatch: Hi Rick this is Bruce working fire dispatch Washington County, are you guys aware of the single vehicle off the road mile post 26 on 26? OSP: Mile post 26 on 26, which 26 side Washington County dispatch: West towards the beach OSP: No Washington County dispatch: Okay we're starting medical, I did notify Astoria dispatch and Seaside dispatch and they were arguing over whose dispatch that was and I told them here's your info; you guys deal with it we'll… OSP: One vehicle off road unknown injury medics in route Washington County dispatch: Described as a compact red car and it was eastbound and the caller said it was not visible from the roadway. OSP: Okay I'll put it in. Washington County dispatch: Alright, I've got a witness name if you'd like that? OSP: Yeah, what is the witness name? Washington County dispatch: Doug Selby at (cell phone number provided) OSP: Thanks Washington County dispatch: You're welcome OSP: Bye According to OSP, a review of that call found that some details were not provided, including that the crash had happened "1/4 mile west of milepost 26" and that the vehicle had traveled off the "north side" of the highway. Botkin is criticizing himself on another point - why he didn't follow up more with the witness. "The one thing that I've been criticizing myself for is why didn't I ask him to go back?" Botkin said. "And I don't think he offered to and I remember it being unusual that he didn't have a cell phone and I sort of asked him 'why didn't you call sooner?' or something like that and he explained that he had driven to the nearest pay phone and called." The witness never did go back to the scene of the crash and OSP is having a hard time trying to find him. The man, who identified himself as Doug Selby, left a phone number that apparently was not his. In fact, OSP said they got a call on Tuesday from a woman who said she has owned the cell phone for four years and does not know anyone named Doug Selby. Investigators do know that the 911 call originated from the Timber Junction area, which is about 12 miles east of the crash location.
A note to users about commenting changes