Editorial | Chasing down a [non-]story

— by Lin McNulty, Editor, Orcas Issues —

It seemed it could be a story for the ages when it captured the curiosity of this Editor on September 15 when San Juan County Public Works sent us a press release for the latest update on West Beach Road construction.

Hidden among the details of the work underway were a couple of intriguing sentences:

Dirt and clay weren’t the only materials excavated this week. Decomposing logs (remnants of the timber trestle), a car, and a suspicious number of empty beer bottles were also unearthed.

A car. Buried. Along with empty beer bottles that could add an element of debauchery to the explanatory tale.

Queries to Public Works went either unanswered or referred to the Sheriff’s Office. Of course, the Sheriff’s Office would investigate, wanting to make sure there were no bodies in the rubble. They would run the VIN (vehicle identification number) and trace the buried heap to its rightful owner.

The Sheriff’s Office diligently dug through their records of uncovered buried car reports and came up with nothing. So back to Public Works.

Yesterday, Jacob Heinen of Public Works sent Orcas Issues the following:

“I wasn’t on site when the car parts were discovered. Our project superintendent Brandon Baney excavated them and I asked him about it again yesterday; he found a roof, siderails, hood, and drivetrain. All of the parts were from the 1920s or 30s when the timber trestle was converted to a roadway.”

With no mention of further follow-up, this incident seems to be at rest, “investigation” completed. Perhaps the full story will be further uncovered in 20 or so years (or more) by Steve Henigson in one of his ‘Orcasional Musings’ columns. Until then, the story of the buried car seems lost to the ages.