Strange Deaths In Big Sur

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Big Sur jittery over strange deaths
Women's bound bodies found on bed at coastal resort

Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, October 13, 2003

Those who live and work along the normally tranquil Big Sur Coast are anxiously awaiting information from autopsies scheduled to be performed today on two young Long Beach women, whose seemingly posed bodies were found inside a rented cottage where a neighbor had reported hearing strange sounds.

"There's a natural curiosity in the community about what happened," said Sherwin Miller, a co-owner of the Gorda Springs Resort, where the women were found Friday afternoon by a manager who wondered why they missed their check- out. "It is a very bizarre and very strange way for people to die."

While some residents -- relying on news reports and conversations with each other -- believe the deaths are the result of suicide or murder-suicide, Kathleen Millsap, a store manager at the nearby Lucia Lodge, said, "I'm thinking we might have a weird person around here."

But as for guests to Big Sur, Millsap said, "They're in bliss. They just don't know."

The resort sits on the rugged coast 75 miles south of Carmel and about 25 miles north of Hearst Castle.

The coastline draws campers and hikers, as well as musicians and movie stars trying to get away from civilization. This weekend, thousands of people attended the Big Sur Jade Festival at Pacific Valley School, an annual fund- raiser benefiting the South Coast Community Land Trust.

Locals know well about the case.

Abigail Tapia, 27, and Jacqueline Toves, 26, who lived together in a Long Beach apartment, were found side by side on their backs in the queen-size bed. Their hands were bound with duct tape and their heads were covered by black plastic garbage bags that were also taped, according to Gorda employee Leonardo Flores.

One wore a grinning Halloween mask over the bag, while another mask was sitting nearby, Flores said.

Investigators from the Monterey County Sheriff's Office could not be reached Sunday.

A written release said only that "Suspicious circumstances surrounding the death required the initiation of an investigation by coroner's detectives and detectives from the sheriff's investigations division."

Flores said Sunday the women checked in Oct. 3 to the $250-per-night, one- bedroom, wood cottage with an ocean view. They declined daily maid service.

On Wednesday, they ordered pasta marinara and a bowl of clam chowder from the inn's Whale Watcher Cafe and took it back to the room, Flores said.

That night, a man who was with his family next door complained about what sounded like loud banging on the walls of the cottage, Flores said. The man knocked on Tapia and Toves' door.

When one of the women answered more than 15 minutes later, Flores said, she didn't say anything and simply shut the door after the man complained about the noise.

They were not seen again, Flores said.

Miller said some guests who called to make reservations at Gorda on Sunday asked not to be placed in the room where the women were found.

But he said the inn, which receives celebrity guests, has "excellent, around-the-clock security. We don't have a concern that there's a wacko roaming around. We feel pretty safe."

Others in the area, however, said they were nagged by suspicions about other recent deaths in an area known for rest and relaxation.

In August, a 38-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman were reportedly found dead in an SUV in an isolated area well north of Gorda. A hose led from the tailpipe to a rear window, and the couple likely died in June, police reported.

Also, in the past few months, a man was found hanging from a tree a few miles south of Gorda, according to several Big Sur residents.