Reno Nv Newspaper

Body of missing Nevada man identified 17 years later

The diver was identified by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office as Donald Christopher Windecker, who was last seen during a diving excursion off Tahoe's west shore on July 10, 1994.

The body, wearing diving gear, was discovered by a deep water diver in depths of 265 feet off Rubicon Point July 24. It was recovered by sheriff's officials with the use of a remote-operated submersible vehicle July 27. The body was well preserved by Tahoe's cold waters but final identification was made through dental records, sheriff's officials said.

Windecker, a 44-year-old planner for the city of Reno, was diving with a companion in the waters near D.L. Bliss State Park when an unknown problem arose.

According to a July 11, 1994 article in the Reno Gazette-Journal , Windecker and his diving partner were returning to the surface after descending about 100 feet when Windecker appeared to have difficulty with his equipment and began sinking, his companion reported.

His partner attempted to come to the diver's aid but was forced to surface after running low on air. Rescue divers attempted to locate the missing man but were unable to do so.

Friends and former colleagues of Windecker said they were surprised his body was recovered from deep water after so much time has passed.

"It's been a long time. I guess it's kind of surprising, especially after all these years," said Vern Kloos, a Reno city planner.

"He was an outgoing person. He always had a positive attitude," Kloos said of the co-worker everyone knew as "Chris."

Mike Ramos, a Reno real estate agent who formerly worked with Windecker for the city of Reno, discussed the loss of a friend he described "as a great family man."

Windecker was married to wife Mary and had two young children when the accident occurred. The family moved out of state afterward.

Ramos said that the morning Windecker left to go diving, he left his son a candy bar and note thanking him for being a good boy.

"That was the last thing he did for (the child)," Ramos said. "Something like that you don't forget too soon."

Ramos recalled the guilt expressed by Windecker's diving partner during a memorial ceremony after the accident.

Amtrak Train and Truck Collide near Reno, Nevada Killing at Least ...

Four people, and possibly more, were killed Friday morning, June 24, 2011, roughly 70 miles east of Reno, Nevada when an Amtrak train and a truck collided at a railroad crossing on U.S. Highway 95.

Another 70 people were injured in the Amtrak train accident that occurred around 11:25 a.m., and at least two of them are in critical condition, according to reports from various news outlets. A Nevada State trooper stated the driver of the truck died in the crash, and other reports state the conductor of the train also died.

The train has significant damage, and rescue personnel are examining the wreckage to locate and account for everyone. Other injured people have already been taken to area hospitals to be treated.

According to the spokesman for Amtrak, Marc Magliari, the California Zephyr that was traveling from Chicago to Emeryville, California had 204 passengers on board and 14 crewmembers.

One of the passengers, Jim Bickley, stated to news reporters that the semi struck the train’s fourth car, and two of the train’s cars caught fire. Other reports state the truck was a side-dump gravel transport truck.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will examine the scene, at look into details such as the driving and medical records of the truck driver, as well as look at autopsy reports to see if drugs were involved. They will also determine if the railroad lights and crossing gates were operating properly.

This is a huge tragedy, and we offer our sincere condolences to everyone affected by this accident.

If you are in an accident, you need support. AA-Accident Attorneys provides their clients the expert legal help to win results. You can feel confident that the who represents you knows your concerns, and the issues you face with crowded roads, freeways, and highways that can lead to automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, bus accidents, and truck accidents. Theknows these issues from the inside and out—as a legal professional and as a citizen who shares the road and lives in the communities.

AA-Accident Attorneys serves clients in many locations across the United States, and has a train accident attorney to represent you in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange County, San Fernando Valley, Ontario, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Las Vegas.

Upon graduation from law school and becoming an attorney in 1994, Paul Lee began working with an employment law firm specializing in representing police officers. Later he worked for an insurance defense firm representing various insurance companies. After seeing, first hand, how insurance companies handled various personal injury claims related to personal injuries he decided that he needed to represent the injured parties to ensure that they were represented fairly. He formed what is now known as AA-Accident Attorneys, P.L.C.

Virtual roots 2.0, a guide to genealogy and local history on the World Wide Web

Insiders' Guide to Reno and Lake Tahoe, 5th

The newspapers of Nevada, a history and bibliography, 1854-1979

Biennial report of the Nevada Historical Society

The maverick spirit, building the new Nevada