MENDOCINO Co., 3/8/19 — The death of Patrick Weber, a motorist found dead on State Route 20 near the Colusa-Lake* county line on February 21, has been determined to be a homicide, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) announced yesterday. Weber, 41 of Santa Clarita, was found to have sustained a gunshot wound and a “large quantity” of cannabis was found in his vehicle after a multi-agency investigation, which including the CHP, Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crime Investigative Unit, and the California Department of Justice. The investigation is ongoing and authorities are still seeking more information from anyone who may have knowledge of the homicide or any suspects involved.
Weber, was first discovered on February 21, when his 2014 white Sprinter van was reported as a solo vehicle accident of a vehicle leaving the roadway, ending up in a ditch against a tree, near Walker Ridge Road in Lake County. A large but unspecified amount of cannabis was subsequently found within the vehicle. The incident has been investigated as a possible homicide since the beginning, as circumstances appeared suspicious and inconsistent with a crash, according to a report from our friends at the excellent Lake County News, which has been covering the investigation. Anyone with information about Weber’s death is asked to contact the CHP at 707-467-4000 or the Clearlake office during business hours at 707-279-0103.
During the course of the investigation, authorities have determined that Weber was not licensed to transport cannabis, however, his wife has confirmed that he was involved in the industry, and was working on getting permits, again according the Lake County News. According to that report, Weber’s family could not think of anyone who might be seeking to harm him; his wife acknowledged she did not have a lot of information about the specific details of his work with cannabis. She said she believed he may have been traveling from Eureka prior to the incident.
Both reports from the CHP are included below.
*Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly stated that the homicide occurred near the Lake-Mendo county line, when in fact it was the Lake-Colusa line.
weber-288-3-7PRESS-RELEASE-022519