Quick Take
Watsonville City Councilmember Casey Clark suspected there might be bodies buried on the Pajaro River levee after encountering a memorial during a walk. His suspicions have only increased as Monterey County detectives discovered two bodies on the levee in the past two months.
While on a walk with a friend last October along the train trestle on Walker Street in Watsonville, city councilmember Casey Clark spotted a white wooden cross standing tall in the dirt.
When he got a better look at the area, Clark noticed that the patch of dirt where the cross sat had been moved around, resembling a makeshift grave. The site was not quite big enough for a human, but not small enough for an animal. “It was kind of an odd size,” Clark said. “But it could possibly fit someone if they were in a fetal position.”
From that moment, Clark began to suspect there might be human bodies buried along the Pajaro River levee.
The councilmember took photos of his discovery and made calls to the Watsonville Police Department so officers could check whether what he had found was indeed an unmarked grave. After getting a closer look, the officer dispatched to site told Clark he would be back with a shovel. “So we both left,” Clark said. “I went back a day or two later, and it hadn’t been touched.”
Clark said he followed up with the police department and city manager Tamara Vides about investigating his discovery but was met with disinterest. “They just straight-up were just like, we’re not going to do it,” he said. The officials, he said, argued that there was no reason to believe that there were bodies buried at the levee.
The councilmember’s theory about bodies buried along the levee sat largely unearthed for more than six months months until this April, when Monterey County detectives discovered the body of 36-year-old Watsonville resident Jesus Alfonso Duarte Figueroa buried by the Pajaro River levee west of the bridge that connects Pajaro to Watsonville. A few weeks ago, Monterey County investigators discovered a second body in the same area where Duarte Figueroa’s body was found.
City spokesperson Michelle Pulido told Lookout that the police department looked into Clark’s concerns and “there was nothing to substantiate the claims” or anything to lead the agency to believe that there are bodies buried in the levee.
Pulido said Clark’s concerns are not going unheard, and have been discussed at the administrative level. “There’s just nothing there,” she said.
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Andres Rosas told Lookout that based on the initial investigations following the discovery of Duarte Figueroa’s body in April, there was no indication of additional bodies buried at the levee.
“Yeah, it’s possible that bodies could be buried anywhere, right in any county and any piece of property,” Rosas said. “But there was nothing that [detectives] saw during the course of the investigation, because it was a few days they were out there, that would indicate that there was a body out there.”
Investigations into the two bodies discovered at the levee this year have led law enforcement to believe the cases are unrelated, said Rosas. Duarte Figueroa’s case is currently being investigated as a homicide; Monterey County detectives are still trying to confirm the identity and cause of death of the second body.
Clark said after waiting for officials to follow up on his concerns last year, he decided to take matters into his own hands. So last fall, he threw a few shovels and pairs of gloves into the trunk of his car, called a few friends — including one who is an undertaker — and made his way to the river levee.
He returned to the makeshift grave — or at least what Clark thought it was — and began digging. As the group of three began moving piles of earth, Clark recalls smelling a strong odor from the patch of dirt where they were digging.
While they didn’t discover any bodies — Clark said they left before it got too dark outside — they did find old candles, confirming to Clark that the patch of dirt he and his friends were digging into was a memorial.
Almost a year after Clark conducted his dig on the levee, the wooden cross that he found atop the suspected makeshift memorial is broken and no longer standing — most likely torn down after encampment cleanups, residents who live along the levee told Lookout.
The levee and the large homeless encampments that have sprung up on its banks of river, a dividing line between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, have become a flashpoint in the region between city officials and residents over how to manage the area’s growing unhoused population.
Watsonville officials conducted encampment sweeps on the levee last summer, which the city said were necessary due to “serious health, welfare and safety risks.” Those sweeps pushed many residents onto the Monterey side of the river, where officials say they are preparing for a round of sweeps on both sides again this summer.
Clark said he feels police and city officials have not done enough to investigate safety issues along the levee. He suspects there are a variety of reasons that might lead to people dying at the levee, from accidental drug overdoses to disagreements getting physical. It’s possible levee residents might bury people whose deaths were not connected to any crime to minimize attention on the encampments from law enforcement or simply out of fear, Clark said.
On the day that Clark discovered the cross and makeshift memorial, he and his friend had trekked along the river levee to see what type of activity might be occurring there. “There’s always chatter throughout town, right?” said Clark, in reference to concerns about drug dealing and physical violence.
His friend, who owns property in the industrial area that borders the levee, had been dealing with people breaking into his building and stealing things, and suspected it was individuals living along the levee.
On separate occasions, friends and business owners residing on Front Street told Clark that they’ve heard gunshots at night coming from the river levee. After not seeing familiar faces anymore, some told him they suspected that people connected to the levee were disappearing. “We don’t know if they’re getting picked up, if they’re moving on, or if they straight-up go missing,” Clark said.
What further helped drive his suspicions that there might be more bodies along the river levee was the conversations he had with people who lived there, Clark said.
When onlookers would ask why he was digging through the memorial, Clark had told them that he and his friends “were just trying to make sure that anybody who’s buried here is given a proper burial” before the work got underway to reconstruct the Pajaro River levee to help prevent flooding in Watsonville and Pajaro, Clark said.
Levee residents told Clark they should investigate farther downstream — west of the train trestle — saying he might even see bones sticking up from the ground. “They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, there are definitely people out here, but you gotta go further downstream’,” he said.
Lookout spoke with several unhoused individuals who receive breakfast at Pajaro River Park who said they haven’t heard much about the recent cases of bodies discovered at the levee. However, many told Lookout that the levee is a dangerous place to live and that they would prefer to live in their cars or elsewhere than along the riverbanks.
Those who choose to live at the levee are typically found on the Monterey County side of the river. During a visit to the levee last week, Lookout saw several elaborate shelters — some built into the trees — while others residents appeared satisfied with just a large tent. Some residents have even planted their own gardens; others have smaller homes for their dogs. Meanwhile, on the Watsonville side, there’s little sign of human activity aside from trash from building up near the water.
While Clark hasn’t returned to the levee since last fall to revisit the memorial where he conducted the dig, the discovery of the bodies has reignited his interest in the mystery of what – or who – might be buried there.
The recent cases on the Monterey County side have also piqued the interest of several city employees, who Clark said are beginning to believe his theories. “Oddly enough, I’ve had city staff approaching me. I’ve had a couple people from the fire department be like, ‘Dude, you were totally right,’” said Clark.
Clark is planning to borrow a cadaver dog — which are trained to detect flesh, bone, blood, teeth, hair and odors of human remains — later this summer and to survey the levee area in hopes of confirming his longtime suspicions.
If the cadaver dog detects human remains, Clark hopes that could lead to closure for families of any missing persons found there and help advance law enforcement investigations into any disappearances.
Clark said he believes the discovery of more bodies might even help address a layer of homelessness that rarely gets talked about in the city: That for many people, being unhoused is a life-or-death situation. “It’s not a housing thing. It’s more of a drug abuse thing or a mental issue thing,” Clark said. “We need to start taking care of them on a foundational level.”
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