Sunday, April 20, 2014, around 11:30 a.m. Yavapai County Sheriff deputies were dispatched regarding a missing married couple who were last seen the evening of April 19 in the town of Crown King. The couple, John Mendoza age 44 and Lisa Gutierrez age 42 from El Mirage, Arizona, left Crown King around 10 p.m. on Saturday in their 1969 Jeep which included special off-road modifications.
Some friends of the couple followed them out of town, but the Jeep eventually pulled ahead out of sight and they were not seen again.
On the morning of April 20, friends of the couple located John and Lisa’s SUV and trailer which they used to transport the Jeep to an area near Cow Creek Road and Castle Hot Springs. Parking at this location provided the couple access on an unpaved road to Crown King from the north end of Lake Pleasant. John and Lisa could not be found anywhere and were not answering cell phones.
Friends of the couple were notified and began searching the road towards Crown King from where the SUV was parked. The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office was contacted around 11:30 a.m. and began calling out search and rescue teams.
Around 1:30 p.m., the Jeep was located by friends of the couple in a steep ravine near the intersection of Forest Road 711 and 192. Deputies and personnel from the Crown King Fire department hiked to the crash site and determined John and Lisa had died as result of the accident. Lisa’s body was found inside the Jeep seat belted. John had apparently been ejected and his body was found nearby. At this time, it is unknown if he had been wearing a seat belt. The Jeep cab is constructed of a steal roll cage with a top plate that came off when the vehicle rolled. The doors are made of smaller steel plates. Fire personnel and YCSO deputies recovered the bodies for transportation to the medical examiner.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.