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by Glenda Anderson
Autopsies reveal
details of Carr deaths
Saturday, August 27, 2005
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Hollywood producer
Terry Carr and his daughter appear to have snacked on yogurt and chips,
then prepared to go to sleep in the back of their car just before they
died under bizarre circumstances in the parking lot of a Clearlake Oaks
gas station, according to autopsy reports released this week.
Carr, 62, whose
credits include "On Golden Pond," "The Innocents" and "Predator 2," died
of a heart attack. Arieka Carr, 9, was killed when her dying father fell
backward across her torso, suffocating the child as she lay in the back of
their Jeep Grand Cherokee, the report said.
The autopsy reports
ruled out foul play, intoxication with either drugs or alcohol, and sexual
abuse.
The reports provide
glimpses into the Carrs' activities that tragic Aug. 1, but do not explain
why the pair abruptly abandoned Carr's wife in an Ashland, Ore., market
the day before.
Chika Carr, 50, told
Ashland police she had no idea her husband was planning to leave. The
family had recently left Los Angeles and had rented an apartment in
Ashland days before the disappearance.
However, there are
indicators Terry Carr may have planned the departure.
Two days before
leaving Ashland, he dumped a box of personal belongings in a pasture on
the outskirts of Ashland. And a black suitcase and a duffel bag were found
inside the Jeep the day Terry and Arieka Carr died, according to the
autopsy reports.
Terry Carr also had
told his brother, John Carr, who lives in Clearlake Oaks, he would be
visiting. But he didn't say when and did not contact his brother Aug. 1,
according to Lake County detectives.
The Tower Mart
parking lot where the bodies were found is a short distance from John
Carr's home. Employees at the store reported seeing Terry and Arieka Carr
walking around in the early morning hours. Their bodies were discovered
inside the car in the early afternoon.
Inside the Jeep were
four empty yogurt bottles and an opened bag of potato chips on the front
passenger seat, according to the autopsy reports.
Detectives also
found a child seat, a wallet and 17 small photographs of Arieka.
Detectives noted
several details that led them to believe the Carrs planned to take a nap.
The back seat of the
car was folded away to make room in the cargo department and several
things had been placed in a shopping cart outside of the vehicle,
according to the report.
Both victims also
had removed some of their clothing.
Arieka Carr was in a
pink polo shirt and underwear on a blue blanket that partly covered her
face. She lay face down on the left side of the cargo compartment with her
head toward the rear and her hands clenched in fists. Her pants and
sandals were stacked at her feet.
Her father was face
up in his T-shirt and underwear. His feet were toward the right passenger
door and his head at the right.
The weight of his
body on the child's back prevented the child from moving or taking
sufficiently deep breaths to stay alive, according to the report.
Terry Carr weighed
212 pounds. Arieka Carr weighed just 55 pounds.
Forensic pathologist
Kelly Arthur, whose company provides investigative reports on contract
with Lake County, was not available Friday to explain her findings.
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