Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007

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Ornelas, Dimas 060111 p6
Investigators are trying to determine whether a body that turned up in the Delta-Mendota Canal near gustine on Monday
night have been a victim of a November accident near Westley.  The Nov. 22 incident, in which a van of five farm
workers plunged into the Delta-Mendota Canal, left at least three people confirmed dead and one survivor.
We're treating this as suspicious until we determine the subject's identification and cause of death, said Sgt. Jason
Goins of the Merced County Sheriff's Department about Monday's finding.  A canal tender found the body at about noon
Monday while doing maintenance work near Whitworth and Butts roads, Goins said. Irene Garcia, the Merced County
coroner's assistant, said it is hard to determine much about the victim other than that he is male. At this point, his
clothing is the only distinguishing feature investigators have to help identify him, she said. "He's been in the water for a
long, long, long time," she said. Garcia said the family of 15-year-old Stockton resident Dimas Ornelas, who has been
missing since the November accident in Westley, has contacted the coroner's office. The sheriff's department also is
working with the California Highway Patrol, which handled that case, Goins said.  Garcia noted there are other missing
people in the area, so it is too early to determine whether the body is Dimas'.  Dimas, who the CHP believes drove the
Chevrolet Astro along the canal bank north of Needham Road on Nov. 22, is the only person in the van at the time who
remains missing. The bodies of passengers Alicia Garcia, 16, and Ismael Hernandez, 31, were both recovered the day of
the incident, and the body of Martin Albores, 28, was found in the canal northwest of Newman on Dec. 4. Dimas's
brother, 17-year-old passenger Miguel Ornelas, is the only known survivor. Ornelas was able to swim through the rapid
water of the canal, reach a side ladder and pull himself to safety.

Ornelas, Dimas 060308 p5
Coroner: Recovered Body Was Local Farmworker;  A body that turned up in the Delta-Mendota Canal near Gustine in
January was a farm worker involved in a November accident near Westley, according to a Merced County coroner's
report.  DNA tests showed a boy found in the canal Jan. 9 was Dimas Ornelas, 15, of Stockton.  Ornelas had been missing
since Nov. 22, when a van carrying farm workers plunged into the Delta-Mendota Canal north of Needham Road, leaving
four people dead. Ornelas was the driver of the  van, according to California Highway Patrol reports.  Ornelas, whom the
CHP believes drove the Chevrolet Astro along the canal bank, was the only person in the van still missing. The bodies of
passengers Alicia Garcia, 16, and Ismael Hernandez, 31, were both recovered the day of the incident, and the body of
Martin Albores, 28, was found in the canal northwest of Newman on Dec. 4.  Ornelas' brother, 17-year-old passenger
Miguel Ornelas, was the only survivor.  He pulled himself up a ladder to escape the canal.  A canal tender found Ornelas'
body Jan. 9 while doing routine maintenance work near Whitworth and Butts roads.  When the body was first found, the
Merced County Sheriff's Department said it was hard to determine much about the victim other than that he was male.
The coroner determined that Ornelas had drowned.  The sheriff's department outsourced the DNA test, results of which
were received Feb. 14.  The department immediately contacted the teen's family, deputy coroner Jackie Hicks said
Monday.  The state Department of Industrial Relations is investigating the employment-related aspects of the accident,
and results of that should be complete by May 22, said department spokeswoman Renee Bacchini.  The department's
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement will determine whether the workers' employer, Salida-based Jose Alfaro, was
licensed and at least 18 years old.  The division of Occupational Safety and Health will investigate safety issues regarding
the driver and the van itself.

Ornellas Dimas  051130 p3
Sheriff Calls off Dive Team for Canal Search    Dimas Ornellas, 18     (still missing as of 12/31/05)
Patterson Irrigator Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department has called off a dive team search for two people who they
believe drowned the Delta-Mendota Canal near Westley on Nov. 22 when the van they rode in crashed into the canal.
Driver Dimas Ornelas and passenger Martin Albores, 28, are still missing after the sheriff 's dive team searched the canal
Nov. 22 and 23.  Passenger Alicia Garcia, 16, and Ismael Hernandez, 31, were both found dead later on the day of the
accident, while 17-year-old passenger Miguel Ornelas survived. All the victims were from Stockton.  "Unfortunately, part
of this whole thing is we'll have to wait until the bodies surface," said Sgt. Mike Parker of the Stanislaus County
Sheriff's Department.  According to the California Highway Patrol, last week's accident occurred at 7:45 a.m. when
Dimas Ornelas drove a Chevrolet Astro southbound on the west bank of the canal north of Needham Road. The workers
in the van were traveling from one field to another.  The driver lost control in gravel as the dirt road along the canal bent
to the west, and the van traveled in a southeast direction off the roadway and overturned into the canal. All the occupants
escaped through the driver's window, but only Miguel Ornelas managed to swim to the west bank of the canal, according
to the CHP.  Parker said the canal's current is swift, and it is hard to know where the bodies of the victims will turn up.
As family members wait for the bodies of their loved ones to surface, at least one funeral was held for a person whose
body was recovered. Garcia's funeral was Tuesday at St. Gertrude's Catholic Church Stockton, where about 50 people
attended.  Friends and family said Garcia's immediate family may have her buried in Mexico, where she was born.
While family members say Garcia was 16 years old, witnesses to last week's accident told the CHP she and Dimas
Ornelas, brother of Miguel Ornelas, were both 18.  The state Department of Industrial Relations is investigating whether
farm labor contractor Jose Alfaro of Salida had met safety standards and adhered to state labor laws, including child labor
laws.  State records indicate that Alfaro's labor contractor license had expired July 27.  However, Alfaro's bookkeeper,
Liz McClellan, said that information is out of date, and she has called the state about the matter. She said she has a copy
of the license that indicates it is valid and is set to expire in July 2006.  As for child labor laws, state law indicates that
anyone 16 or 17 years old may work after 5 a.m. and before 10 p.m. on days when there is school.  However, they may
not work during regularly scheduled school hours. Employees must be at least 18 years old to transport people in a
vehicle.  Alfaro would not comment on the incident this week and referred all calls to McClellan.  Renee Bacchini,
spokeswoman for the state Department of Industrial Relations, said the investigation has just begun, and stressed that
everyone is innocent until proven guilty.  "We haven't made any declarative statements on this law or that law," she said.
The investigation most likely will take about two months, though it could take up to six months, she said.