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[Kelly]

Print a Poster: http://www.projectja..._DavidNeily.pdf

Project Jason Profile:



Name:  David Neily

Date of Birth:  11/29/1936
Date Missing:  04/14/2006
Age at time of disappearance:  69
City Missing From:  Westport
State Missing From:  California
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height:  5 ft 5 in
Weight:  150 lbs
Hair Color: Gray
Hair (other): White beard and mustache
Eye Color: Green
Complexion: Medium

Identifying Characteristics: David has a scar from heart surgery on his left side from under the arm pit to just below his left breast, shaped like a 'C'. There is a scar on his right side just above the hip about 3 inches long and 1/4 thick. From another surgery, there is a scar about 6 inches, right through his belly button.  He has 4 lower teeth missing, although the appearance is that 2 lower teeth are missing. His legs are not in proportion to his body due to stunted growth caused by the heart murmur.

Clothing: David usually wears jeans and a t-shirt. He may have been wearing a hat and leather jacket.  

Circumstances of Disappearance:  He was last seen on April 14, 2006 on a property in Westport, CA. According to his family, he was there to pick up a truck. Neighbors told family members that they heard gunshot fire at about 2-3am that morning.  

Medical Conditions: David is a Manic Depressive and was not on his medication at the time of his disappearance. He also has diminished hearing. He has a heart murmur.

Investigative Agency:  Mendocino County Sheriff's Office
Agency Phone:  (707) 467-9159
Investigative Case #:  06-1611

Family Websites:

http://twitter.com/JusticeForDavid
https://www.facebook...ersonDavidNeily
 

[Kelly]

Charley Project for David:

http://www.charleypr...eily_david.html

CA DOJ:

http://dojapp.doj.ca...N=3310614400272

Sheriff's Dept:

http://www.mendocino...sing/index.html

[Jenn]

http://www.theava.co...801-horses.html

Anderson Valley Advertiser August 1, 2007

Bad with Horses, Worse with People...
Where Are They, Jimmy?
by Bruce Anderson

Donald "JC" Cavanaugh went missing in 2005.

David Neily hasn't been seen since 2006.

Both men worked for James "Jimmy" Denoyer on Denoyer's 20-acre horse ranch near Westport in an area known more for pot growing than it is for horse farming.

Mendocino County investigators describe Denoyer as "a person of interest" in the disappearances.

Denoyer, 51, has been much in the news. Two years ago, 22 quarterhorses Denoyer kept on his hilly acres bordering Howard Creek, and 14 more horses he pastured on the Branscomb Road west of Laytonville were seized by Mendocino County's Animal Control. Except for two stallions Denoyer kept in a barn on his Westport place, all the horses were near death. The confiscation of the horses by Animal Control was the largest intervention by that agency in Mendocino County history.

The seizures occurred on December 27th of 2005 in a heavy winter rain. The emaciated horses were found huddled and unfed, their ribs showing, one dead, on the banks of rampaging Howard Creek on Denoyer's muddy, north facing, acres northeast of Westport.

The second herd, also near death, was rescued from the muck of their sodden Branscomb Road pasture.

Flood warnings were in effect everywhere on the Northcoast when Mendocino County Animal Control Officer Susan Bottom and her assistant, Mandi Liberty, accompanied by some 25 appalled volunteers, seized Denoyer's animals. The rescue squad managed to extract the herd of mares from the shin-deep muck of their corrals at Denoyer's Westport place where they also took the two stallions into protective custody. "The horse that died, a mare, looked like she got in, couldn't get out and just kind of went over," Bottom told the media. Animal Control then retrieved 16 more skeletal, half-dead horses from a similarly mired Branscomb Road pasture.

"The conditions are atrocious for the horse to have to be in," Bottom declared as she lead the rescue team to Denoyer's neglected animals. "They are all shy of weight and they have wounds and injuries."

One volunteer rescuer described the scene as "a mud pit decorated with starving horses." The two stallions had been living in the barn where Denoyer lived in an apartment above their stalls.

Veterinarian John Fling said he'd seen worse, but if the horses hadn't been confiscated when they were they could not have survived much longer. "This has been long overdue," Fling said.

Four healthy dogs, three of them belonging to Denoyer's missing uncle, Donald "JC" Cavanaugh, were also seized when Sheriff's Department deputies arrested Denoyer's caretaker, Robert Murray, 25. Without Murray on the premises there was no one to care for the dogs. Two of the three pets belonging to Cavanaugh were pedigreed American bulldogs.

Murray was released from custody without charges being filed against him. Denoyer's girlfriend, a young woman named Chris, arranged for the dogs to be returned to her and Denoyer.

"Jim never lifted a finger to care for the horses," says Ryan Neily, a former Denoyer employee whose father David Neily, also associated with Denoyer, disappeared more than a year ago. "While I was there, five horses died, the first one a baby. Jim never called the vet, and we had 22 horses at the time. I'd say to him, 'Please walk around and look at your horses.' He ignored me. He wouldn't put any money into vets or shelter for them ... The horses were supposed to be wormed every six months. He only wormed them once that I know of."

Neily describes Denoyer's ranch as totally unsuitable for horses.

"There's no sun down at the creek in the winter where they were corralled. If the dogs didn't keep getting out, which is how people got onto the condition of the horses — they kept bringing the dogs back and they'd see how the horses were living — all the horses would have died. In the winter the mud was so deep it would pull your boots off your feet. Jim would take a bunch of hay and throw it to the horses and then he'd leave for the weekend. That was his idea of taking care of them."

The gloomy December days his horses were confiscated in Mendocino County, Denoyer, he said, was caring for his elderly mother in the Bay Area. Denoyer blamed the condition of his horses on his three most recent caretakers, Murray, and Murray's brother, Daniel Murray, and a single mother who also lived on the ranch, Rosalie Caeseri. Ms. Caeseri, however, kept photographs of the ailing animals over the four months prior to their seizure, documenting their deteriorating conditions, which she turned over to Animal Control to alert the agency that Denoyer was at best indifferent to his animals' welfare.

Denoyer was indicted for thirty-six felony counts of cruelty to animals.

Last week in Ukiah, two years after the horses were impounded by Animal Control, Denoyer's jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked 10-2 for acquittal. Judge Ron Brown declared a mistrial.

The District Attorney must decide by August 10th if Denoyer will be tried again.

Denoyer's horses are safe; they've either been sold or adopted out, but JC Cavanaugh and David Neily are still missing.

The day the horses were rescued, JC Cavanaugh's dogs were also taken into protective custody. The dogs were there, but there was no sign of Cavanaugh. There was no sign of David Neily either, but two vehicles belonging to Neily were in plain view on the property.

The children of the missing men are certain Denoyer knows where they are.

Donald CavanaughDonald "JC" Cavanaugh was in his late sixties. JC knew horses. He'd been around them all his life and, as Denoyer himself testified, "knew all there was to know about them."

Originally from a farm family in Ottawa, Illinois, 80 miles west of Chicago, JC moved to Elgin, Illinois, where he owned his own horse farm for many years. But as he moved closer to retirement, JC ran into financial trouble. Then, having lost his property, he began to break down physically. The old man continued to work with other people's horses when he could, but he was struggling to stay healthy enough to do it.

Denoyer would testify that in 2004 he called his horse-savvy uncle to invite him out to his Westport place to help him with what Denoyer hoped would become a lucrative horse breeding business.

JC, a full generation older than his nephew, had never been to California, never had visited Jimmy's Westport ranch on the wild coast of Mendocino County. But JC dreamed of getting back into horse ranching, and here was an opportunity to do it. Although he'd just had bypass heart surgery, and was still weak from the ordeal of it, JC was excited to be working with horses again.

Denoyer, accompanied by Ryan Neily, who worked with Denoyer at the time on what Neily describes as, Denoyer's "pot farm," drove to Illinois where they picked up JC and 14 horses JC had hand-picked as likely stock for what the old man thought was his nephew's hotshot California horse ranch.

According to Ryan Neily, Uncle and Nephew took an instant dislike to each other.

"JC didn't even want to ride in the same truck as Jim," Neily recalls. And when they all finally arrived at Denoyer's ranch near Westport, "JC laughed at Jim's operation."

And cried inside. Too many ill-tended horses on a small piece of hillside property wasn't how JC had imagined his nephew's vaunted horse business.

It got worse for the old man.

Denoyer stuck his uncle in an old abandoned Suburban on the property and told him that was the deal, the "cabin" Denoyer had said came with the job of looking after the horses.

"Jim offered JC a fifth wheel," Neily remembers, "but never got around to getting the thing for the old man, who was going to buy it himself. So when it got cold, JC moved himself into Jim's place in the barn, and Jim moved out because he couldn't stand his uncle."

JC had only been in Westport a week when a horse died. JC told Denoyer that he should sell the horses, but Denoyer, who also works as a building contractor, wanted to hang on to them. JC saw that the horses were already infected and in poor shape, and there were so many of them that things would only get worse. JC argued with Denoyer about the condition of the animals. JC knew they weren't eating regularly and they hadn't been wormed.

Neily describes Denoyer's horse business as already in a deteriorated state when Denoyer's uncle arrived with even more horses. "There were lots of miscarriages, these little pink dead horses all over the place," Neily says. "The babies that did survive had big heads and bloat because they weren't being wormed. JC got real upset. One horse that died was called Miracle because it was all white with blue eyes. Born on the ranch, died and left on the ground for a week until some guys piled a bunch of wood on it and burned it. Other dead horses were just dumped out of the way."

Denoyer was as upset at his uncle as his uncle was with him. The old man didn't have a way of getting into town on his own. He was completely dependent on his nephew, and his nephew's bartending girl friend, Chris. Denoyer soon stopped bringing his uncle food, firewood, propane — everything an old man recovering from heart surgery on a remote property far from doctors and supplies would need.

Ryan Neily, who was also living on Denoyer's place at the time, helped the old man out.

"JC got a Social Security check between $500 and $700 every month, but Jim and his girl friend, Chris, controlled his money. They took him to town at first because he had no other way to get there. But they didn't like doing it. I remember one night when JC and Chris got back from Fort Bragg they were really going at each other. Both of them were threatening to kill each other. I did what I could for JC, but I wasn't always there."

Neily insists that the ongoing problem with Denoyer's horse venture was Denoyer's refusal to give his caretakers money for feed. Or buy feed himself. Neily says Denoyer also shorted the animals on veterinarian care.

Jim Cavanaugh Jr. describes his dad as "a horse lover through and through, and a wonderful man and definitely a people person who trusted everyone.

"He thought he was doing the right thing by going out there to help Jimmy Denoyer with his horse farming, sales, whatever. But now the whole thing seems story-book shady to me. When my dad got pneumonia, Jim made him work anyway. The last time we saw dad was March of '05, but my sister and I talked to him every couple of weeks when he was out there. Jimmy would let him call us, but Jimmy almost always stood right by the phone while we were talking. Dad seemed awfully scared, but he liked being out there, the beauty of the place. He said there was no place like it, but then he'd say, 'Someday I'll sit down with you and tell you about the stuff that goes on here. It's unbelievable.' I had a feeling something was wrong, and it had something to do with illegal drugs. My dad was a straight guy. Never had anything to do with drugs even when he was young. He was totally against drugs. He'd just had a quadruple bypass a month before he went to California so he was pretty weak.

"All the horse people in Illinois knew my dad," Jim Jr. says. "His reputation as a horseman was the best. If my dad saw a horse he thought wasn't being cared for, I know he would speak right up. My dad would have confronted Jimmy over any neglect of horses. He just wouldn't stand for it."

Jim Jr.'s sister, Kim, adds, "The only reason my dad went out there was to help care for the animals. My dad loved animals, but he didn't have any place to do what he wanted to do, which was to work with horses. So he saw Jimmy Denoyer as an opportunity and jumped at the chance.

"My dad was a real friendly guy. If somebody said 'I'm going to kill you,' he wouldn't take him seriously. He was just a real nice guy. Whenever I see an older man in a cowboy hat... I just can't believe my father is gone. And I can't believe he could be treated like that, put in an old car to live. I think my dad was scared and didn't know what to do. I tried to get him to come back here but... the cops need someone to come forward with information. If Jimmy wasn't taking care of those horses that really would have upset my dad. Dad still has some saddles out there. Don't you think he would want us to have our dad's things?"

Another Cavanaugh, Clint Cavanaugh, also a nephew of JC's, came out to California from Illinois to work with Denoyer, but Denoyer wouldn't pay him and Clint, after a brief stay at Westport, returned to Illinois poorer than he arrived. Two other Cavanaughs, young men in their twenties, also worked briefly for Denoyer. They, too, departed on unfriendly terms.

Relations between Cavanaugh and Denoyer finally reached the breaking point when Denoyer accused his uncle of stealing $2,000 that Denoyer claimed to have had hidden in a vehicle. Ryan Neily says the old man was constantly badgered and bullied by Denoyer into finally believing he'd taken the money. "But JC wouldn't do anything like that," Neily maintains. "He was honest, a good guy. It was all bogus. Jim just wanted him out of there because JC was on him all the time about the horses."

Just before Christmas of 2005, JC's children, echoed by Ryan and Lisa Neily, claim that JC, just before Christmas of 2005, a gun wielded by Denoyer literally at his head, was forced by Denoyer into Denoyer's truck and driven to San Francisco International Airport where the old man was dropped off with no money, and no way of flying home to Illinois.

JC Cavanaugh had arrived in July. A couple of months later, JC was roughed up at Denoyer's place by a group of young thugs known to frequent the Caspar Inn where Denoyer's girl friend, Chris, is said to occasionally be employed, in a murky episode that seemed aimed at driving JC off the property. And then JC was taken at gunpoint by Denoyer to SF International where he was stranded for three days until a dog breeder friend from Laytonville drove to San Francisco to pick him up.

Before his Laytonville host drove him to Plowshares, a multi-purpose facility for the indigent in Ukiah where JC was last seen, JC stayed with his friend in the North County for some weeks. People at Plowshares reportedly heard JC talking about going to Westport to get his dogs and his things.

The old man hasn't been seen since, and then another old man connected to Denoyer went missing.

David Neily's two vehicles were found at Denoyer's, a Mustang and a 1977 Thunderbird. The Mustang didn't run, and David Neily was nowhere to be found.

"When I went back to Jim's to look for my dad," Ryan Neily remembers, "I found my dad's dog locked up in a truck. I was up there poking around near the trailer where I'd lived and I met Ron Baumeister. He told me my dad had 'left months ago in his Mustang.' Baumeister knows what happened. He must know something to lie like that because both my dad's vehicles were at Jim's. The Mustang hadn't moved. I called the sheriff, and the next day the cops were there in force complete with cadaver dogs. They searched the whole place but found nothing. I know the cops wanted Ron to come in for a polygraph, but Ron didn't and he hasn't been seen since either that I know of."

David NeilyDavid Neily was last seen at the end of March 2006. He was 66 when he dropped out of sight. Neily had lived in Albion and Watsonville and, as his family says, "every place in between." Denoyer had told Neily, a man of many skills ranging from carpentry to auto mechanics, and Neily's son Ryan, they could build a shop on his Westport place. Ryan Neily says that "my dad and Jim argued about the shop one day and my dad hasn't been seen since."

"I went to Westport a couple of times to get my dad's property, but when we went back to get my dad's truck, Jim had moved the truck back onto his property. Jim called the cops to get me out of there. The cops came and went. I warned my dad not to go back there alone. "My dad was on meds for a manic-depressive condition. He told the family he was going to Santa Cruz when actually he went to Jim's for probably a month or two. If I knew he'd gone back there I would have been up there to get him. Three months after the police had become involved I went to Jim's and found my dad's dog locked up in a truck. Weird thing about it was when I was there this guy Ron Baumeister, an old friend of Jim's, whose sister, by the way, works at Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg, was staying there. My dad's vehicles were farther up on the property by Jim's barn. This guy Ron told me my dad had driven off in his Mustang, but I went back to the property later where I walked up to the top of the place and found both my dad's vehicles. The cops went out next day and confiscated the vehicles.

Lisa Neily has met Baumeister. "He gives me the creeps," she says.

The police were told conflicting stories by Baumeister and Jim that David Neily had merely "walked off" or that Neily "drove off in his Mustang." Ryan Neily maintains that, "My dad wouldn't have left his dog there. No way. He loved that dog."

Denoyer lived in Comptche before he moved to Westport. He has an ex-wife in Fort Bragg with whom he shares custody of his young daughter. Denoyer also owns 288 acres of undeveloped land in Lake County and may have an interest in property in Willits. He's worked security at Reggae on the River on horseback.

Among the customers of Denoyer's contracting business is John Gray author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Gray, who owns property near Westport, testified for Denoyer's defense at Denoyer's recent trial for felony animal abuse. Gray "studied" with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 1997, the author acquired a Ph.D at Columbia Pacific University, a non-accredited institution. Gray's books and other publications typically refer to him as 'Doctor John Gray' or 'John Gray, Ph.D'. According to Gray's website, he earned a Ph.D. in psychology at Columbia Pacific University, a correspondence school that was forcibly closed by the California Department of Consumer Affairs in 2001 after a judgment that found that the school "awarded excessive credit... to many students" and "failed to meet various requirements for issuing Ph.D. degrees."

Last week in Ukiah, Denoyer, with the heavy-hitting Gray testifying to his good character, managed to convince ten members of a Ukiah jury that his 36 horses found starving in two North County pastures weren't starving because of anything he did. They starved, Denoyer testified, while he was in the Bay Area caring for his mother. The horses starved, he said, because the people who were supposed to feed them while the loyal son was fulfilling his family obligations, didn't feed them.

Denoyer has two sisters who live in the Bay Area. His mother, who is described as "quite well-to-do" by people who know Denoyer, doesn't seem to depend on her son for in-home care.

His serial caretakers say that Denoyer regularly drove past his starving herds and "occasionally" tossed them some hay. But Denoyer and his lawyers said the shocking, pre-seizure condition of the animals was entirely the fault of these "marginal persons," as they were described in court testimony. Denoyer said he depended entirely on his marginals to care for his animals while he worked as a contractor and visited his mother in the Bay Area. Denoyer conceded only that he had exercised poor judgment in his choice of ranch hands.

Assistant DA Katherine Houston inexplicably seconded Denoyer's characterization of Denoyer's hiring practices — the alleged "marginals" who testified that Denoyer was supposed to supply them with feed and grain but didn't. Being marginal, at least in the sense of available cash, they certainly didn't have the resources to feed and care for 36 horses. The owner is supposed to do that.

During the two years it took for the Denoyer case to finally get before a jury, 29 of his horses were sold at auction, several of them to a Mark Scripter of Newbury, Ventura County, who is Denoyer's brother-in-law. Scripter is suing Mendocino County, several named volunteers who helped rescue the starving animals, fifty or so other unnamed persons, and the estate of the late Mendocino county DA Norm Vroman, claiming that all these people defamed him by alleging he concealed his relationship to Denoyer when he bought the horses at auction. The late District Attorney Norm Vroman believed that Denoyer and Scripter had colluded to regain a certain number of the animals for Denoyer.

"If you met the guy you'd never in a million years suspect him of doing bad things," Ryan Neily says, "but you should see him when he goes off, and he goes off a lot. He's real scary, totally out of control. Jim had plenty of money to do right for the horses, but he just couldn't be bothered. I think JC came back to Westport to get his dogs and his saddles and Jim went off on him. I think my dad came back to get his stuff and Jim did the same thing he did to JC."

A neighbor says in his years in the Westport neighborhood he'd never heard a gun shot, "but one morning at about 3am I heard gun shots back in the canyon. Two shots, then three more."

A police investigator, speaking off the record, has assured the Neily family, "Jim will make a mistake and we'll hook him up to your dad and JC both."

[Jenn]

http://www.theava.co...tr-impeach.html

Anderson Valley Advertiser August 22, 2007

Excerpt from "OFF THE RECORD"
Not Connecting the Dots

by Bruce Anderson

THE DENOYER WATCH. James 'Jimmy' Denoyer is going to be re-tried on felony animal abuse charges. The case has attracted much public interest not only in Mendocino County but nationally because Denoyer's whole herd of starving horses, 36 of them, was impounded by Mendocino County, the largest confiscation of large animals in local history.

THE POLICE also consider Denoyer "a person of interest" in the disappearances of David Neily and Donald Cavanaugh, two senior citizens who haven't been seen since they made Jimmy very, very angry. And now another man who Denoyer was said "to be tired of" is among the missing. Or at least the people and places he's ordinarily in the proximity of haven't seen Ronald "Ronnie" Baumeister in several months. Baumeister, like Neily and Cavanaugh, occasionally worked with Denoyer at Denoyer's 20 acre ranch near Westport. Baumeister has also been seen at Denoyer's 200-plus acre ranch off Scott's Valley Road between Highway 20 and Lakeport. But Ronnie hasn't been seen anywhere lately and he, too, had made Jimmy very, very angry.

DENOYER'S DEFENSE during his first trial consisted entirely of slanders aimed at the persons Denoyer either hired or traded living space on his Westport place for work with the horses. These persons were all described as "marginal," which is wildly unfair, certainly as applied to Ryan Neily, whom I've met and whose commitment to finding out what happened to his father is not only admirable but quite affecting. We should all be so fortunate in our children. J.C. Cavanaugh's children, and J.C.'s brother, all residents of Illinois, are just as intent on finding J.C. who is, or was, Denoyer's uncle.

LESS "MARGINAL" persons testified for Denoyer. At least one of them, like Denoyer, is a pot farmer whose marijuana business is disguised by a horse enterprise. Dope is the sub-theme here, of course, because the most implausible people, like the dope and horse entrepreneur who was hauled out by the defense as a character witness, and Denoyer himself, have no visible means of support, but they have all the cash they need to buy expensive horses and, in Denoyer's case, two Freightliner trucks to transport the expensive horses in plus expensive pieces of property and, now, Mr. Turer, a very expensive criminal defense attorney based in Santa Rosa.

DENOYER testified that the condition of most of the horses of the 36 impounded by Mendocino County Animal Control had deteriorated to the point of death because he was in Moraga for a month caring for his ailing mother. It is Denoyer's current girl friend, Rebecca, who lives full-time in Moraga with Denoyer's mother. The condition of the horses was so dire that they couldn't possibly have become so thin and so close to death in a mere month while the loyal son was tending to mom. If that's where he was. But where's David Neily, JC Cavanaugh and Ronnie Baumeister?

[Jenn]

http://www.theava.co...03-denoyer.html

Anderson Valley Advertiser September 3, 2008

Getting Away With It

by Bruce Anderson

In recent months, the Mendocino County District Attorney has prosecuted a Fort Bragg man for saving a mountain lion cub, put a Little River man in jail for tidying up a State Parks trail, ruined a Potter Valley teacher with false charges of molestation, let a couple of confirmed wife beaters go, confiscated the property of several alleged drug traffickers before they'd even gone to trial, refused to prosecute two politically friendly County supervisors for their obvious thefts of public funds and, now, has done everything short of apologizing to an animal torturer whose prosecution her office botched from start to pathetic finish.

James "Jimmy" Denoyer is the latest beneficiary of disarray in the District Attorney's Office. He'll get four of the 36 horses the county seized from Denoyer when they were discovered starving and near death in the shin-deep mud of two pastures near Westport three winters ago.

Last year, Denoyer hung a jury. This year, the DA gave up. The DA said there was no point in trying Denoyer a second time, claiming that some witnesses had "disappeared" so a second prosecution would likely fail.

Some witnesses had indeed disappeared. They're probably buried in the wooded vastness lying between Westport and Laytonville.

But the DA ignored living witnesses with incriminating evidence who did come forward but who weren't called to testify against Denoyer in his first trial, let alone contacted to testify against him in a second.

In dismissing all but one charge against the Westport building contractor and pot farmer, now a resident of Lake County, Judge Henderson said he "had to believe" that Denoyer had learned from what Henderson characterized as a "mistake" — one misdemeanor count of leaving a horse carcass within 100 feet of a road.

That mistake was Denoyer's 37th consecutive documented error. He appears to be a slow learner, and Judge Henderson an infinitely optimistic teacher.

Denoyer's 36 other mistakes were rescued before they could die in the mud of his 20-acre Westport ranch like number 37.

One spectator at Wednesday's hearing said Denoyer's courtroom demeanor was "smug," that "it seemed difficult for him to say 'guilty' to even the one charge."

Prosecutor Katherine Houston, the spectator said, "seemed deflated, like she had given up."

The DA had given up, and they'd botched the first case — 36 counts of felony animal abuse — in as many ways as it's possible to botch a case. The DA had been trying to plea bargain with Denoyer ever since that trial last year when the jury was convinced by Denoyer's attorney, Stephen Turer of Santa Rosa, that it was Denoyer's caretakers who'd failed to care for his horses, not Denoyer, not the owner of the horses, not the man responsible for buying their feed, for paying their vet bills.

Denoyer said he was in the Lake Tahoe area taking care of his ill mother when his horses were found starving that Christmas.

The DA couldn't find a rebuttal for that one, or any other of the childishly transparent claims Denoyer made through his attorney, the glib Turer, paid for by Denoyer's wealthy family, and one more example that in Mendocino County you get the defense you pay for.

None of the casually maligned caretakers were called to testify at Denoyer's one and only trial, although at least two were eager to appear. They filed affidavits claiming that Denoyer did not buy feed for the animals or provide the caretakers with the money to buy feed for his horses.

How could the caretakers do their jobs when the boss didn't do his?

Prosecutor Houston went along with Denoyer's characterization of his employees as "transients" and "unreliable" and "marginal."

Lisa Hodanish's father and brother worked as caretakers for Denoyer. Mrs. Hodanish's brother Ryan survived the experience. Her father didn't. He hasn't been seen since he ran afoul of Denoyer.

"My brother is not a lost witness," Lisa Hodanish insists. "He sent to the DA in March of 2008 a notarized statement of the horse abuse that he had first hand knowledge of Denoyer committing because my brother lived on his property for three years and worked with Denoyer. The statement also included why we think Denoyer is responsible for my dad's disappearance."

JC Cavanaugh is a second senior citizen associated with Denoyer to go missing. Cavanaugh was Denoyer's uncle, and a long-time horseman who'd come out from Illinois to help his nephew with his horses. He hasn't been seen since he refused to stop insisting that Denoyer feed and care for his emaciated herds.

Property belonging to the two missing men was found on Denoyer's starving horse ranch near Westport. The police brought cadaver dogs to the denuded twenty acres to search for Neily and Cavanaugh, but no trace of them was found.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Department regards Denoyer as the sole suspect in their disappearances. Both men were in their late 60s.

Denoyer will get four of his horses back when he pays the County of Mendocino $5,000 for their care. Predictably, he's contesting that fee. Denoyer has, however, agreed that every three months, a veterinarian of his choosing will examine the four returned animals, and that the County of Mendocino can inspect the horses twice a year with a veterinarian of their choosing. The mistake-prone Denoyer will also be on probation, and can't own more than four horses at a time. Judge Henderson ordered the defendant to take classes in horse care.

Denoyer's attorney, Stephen Turer told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that Denoyer "didn't like the idea of pleading guilty to anything, but he's happy to have his horses back."

[Kelly]

AAN Poster Notify Sent to AAN Subscribers  Code 70

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member and receive notifications about missing persons via email.

Click here to become a part of the solution: http://www.projectja.../awareness.html

[Kelly]

David Neily and Sharnecia Frazier are Project Jason's featured missing persons for November of 2009. The image you see below, with links to their news and information threads, is on the main page of the Project Jason website. This is one means of awareness for their cases, and with a high average of daily hits to the site, we'll reach many with their stories.

If your missing loved one is not registered with us for services, please click here: http://www.projectja...org/report.html

[Jenn]

NamUs Profile for David: https://www.findthem.../cases/1597/0/�

[Kelly]

From the family:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Today my dad David V. Neily is 74 but I can't send him a card and a gift because he has been missing from Westport, CA since 2006.

Someone knows something. People don't just disappear.

I changed my FB profile picture to an illustration of Elvis Presley (one of my dad's favorite artists). My dad drew it in 1979. He is very creative and I want to try and show what kind of person he is. I will have it up for a week in honor of Dad.



Unfortunately I haven't been very active with his case for about a year now since I was pregnant and had our son. It's very stressful to have a missing loved one and I didn't want to cause harm to our baby. He is named after my dad. Landon's middle name is David which means "beloved".

My dad shares his birthday month with my brother, my daughter and my husband.

You can find out more about his case at the following links:

Dad's Blog: http://www.davidvneily.blogspot.com/

Dad's FB Page: http://tinyurl.com/ah4qn2

If you haven't already I would appreciate you joining his blog and/or FB page. It would mean a lot to the entire Neily family.

Thanks for your continued support to find answers because every person who is missing deserves to be found.

Love, Lisa

[Lori Davis]

http://www.huffingto...l+Notifications

Donald Cavanaugh And David Neily: Two Missing Men, Two Unsolved Mysteries
Posted: 11/21/2013 6:20 pm EST
David Lohr

The families of Donald "JC" Cavanaugh and David Neily have forged an unlikely bond since their loved ones vanished nearly a decade ago.

Similarities between the two cases are undeniable, and the men's families believe the solution to one case could help unravel the other mystery.

Cavanaugh and Neily both went missing in California, both had a connection to the same Pacific coast horse farm and both are feared dead.

The dust has long settled on the men's case files, but their families are unwilling to give up hope.

"I think about my dad all the time," Cavanaugh's son, Jim Cavanaugh, told The Huffington Post. "I want answers, and I'll keep asking questions until I get them."

Neily's daughter, Lisa Hodanish, is equally determined.

"I will not give up," she told HuffPost. "My dad always said I was tenacious, and I'm going to live up to that for him."

The mystery of Cavanaugh's and Neily's disappearances is rooted in Westport, a small unincorporated community in Mendocino County. As there are roughly 60 residents, outsiders could easily speculate that few things would go unnoticed. However, that number is a blessing and a curse. A smaller community means fewer witnesses and, perhaps, fewer people willing to come forward with information.

The area is also known to attract people who have little interest in keeping their eyes peeled for suspicious activity.

"Marijuana is basically the only industry we have. It is at the forefront of this county," Sgt. Jason Caudillo, of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, told HuffPost. "More people are growing marijuana in the county than aren't. The more rural the area, the more acceptance there is for growing and selling marijuana."

In regard to Cavanaugh and Neily, no one has reported witnessing the cause of either man's disappearance. There have been no concrete clues suggesting foul play, and there is no positive proof that either man didn't wander off on his own.

However, as is often the case with missing persons, the devil lies somewhere in the details, and the cases have played out like a made-for-TV movie from the get-go.

The story of Cavanaugh's disappearance began in Elgin, Ill., where he was a well-known horse dealer. As a co-owner of a successful horse ranch, Cavanaugh was doing well for himself until he fell ill and required a quadruple bypass. From there, things went downhill fast. Cavanaugh lost his stake in the horse farm and fell on hard times.

In 2004, Cavanaugh, then 63, was contacted by his nephew, James "Jimmy" DeNoyer. At the time, DeNoyer operated a 20-acre horse ranch in Westport, Calif., and asked his uncle to help run the ranch. The two men struck a deal, and DeNoyer, along with Neily's son, Ryan, drove to Illinois to pick up his uncle and more than a dozen horses his uncle had hand-selected for their new joint venture.

The excitement was short-lived, however, said Ryan Neily, who was employed by DeNoyer at the time.

"They began bickering as soon as we got back," Neily told HuffPost. "Don was not happy about the condition of the farm. The bedroom he was promised turned out to be an abandoned truck with a mattress in the back, and he would complain that his nephew would not take him into town for his medication or food. Don was basically ignored. It was unbelievable."

Jim Cavanaugh was living in Illinois and would speak with his father by phone. He said he knew something was not right, but he did not know the extent of it until much later.

"Whenever I spoke with my father on the phone he seemed nervous, maybe like someone was standing next to him," said Jim Cavanaugh. "Once, he did say there was shady things going on out there, but he would not go into detail. He said he would tell me later, but he never got a chance."

By Christmas 2004, things between Donald Cavanaugh and DeNoyer came to a head, according to Ryan Neily.

"DeNoyer thought Don stole some money, so he dropped him off at San Francisco Airport," Ryan Neily said.

Cavanaugh did not have any money, so he went to stay with a friend in Laytonville, Calif. He remained there for a few weeks until his friend took him to a shelter in nearby Ukiah. While at the shelter, Cavanaugh said he was going to go back to DeNoyer's to pick up his belongings, family members report.

"My dad had valuables like horse saddles and other gear," said Jim Cavanaugh. "Dad was going back to DeNoyer's to get his stuff."

Cavanaugh left the shelter in March 2005. Whether he went to get his belongings or simply vanished along the way is unknown. What is known is that no one has heard from him since.

Back at DeNoyer's ranch, Ryan Neily was unaware of Cavanaugh's disappearance. He said he was told Cavanaugh had gone back to Illinois.

In the time that had passed since Cavanaugh had left, Ryan Neily had attempted to earn a living working for DeNoyer's lucrative construction business. In exchange, he was permitted to live at the ranch. His dad, David Neily, had also entered the picture and was making a deal with DeNoyer to build a shop at the ranch.

"My dad was working with copper and copper plating. He was really good at it, and DeNoyer was going to let him build a shop on the property. The shop was to be my dad and brother's," Hodanish said.

Unfortunately, those plans never came to fruition.

In January 2006, DeNoyer was charged with 36 counts of animal cruelty after 36 emaciated horses were removed from his property. According to KTVU.com, authorities said the horses were so thin that their ribs and backbones were visible.

"This is the type of conduct not only I am offended by, [but] I think everybody in Mendocino County is offended [by]," Mendocino County District Attorney Norm Vroman told KTVU.COM on Jan. 13, 2006.

During a pretrial hearing, it was revealed that someone living at the ranch had alerted animal control regulators to the condition of the horses.

According to Ryan Neily, DeNoyer accused him of tipping off the authorities. The relationship quickly disintegrated, so Ryan Neily moved in with his father in Albion, a town located about 30 miles south of Westport.

Ryan Neily said his father had a car -- a 1967 Ford Mustang -- on DeNoyer's property. He had been working on the vehicle there and wanted to pick it up, along with a truck DeNoyer had given him. He allegedly went to DeNoyer's on April 14, 2006, to make arrangements to get the vehicles.

"I told him not to go back, but he did anyway," Ryan Neily said.

As with Donald Cavanaugh, David Neily left and never returned.

Ryan Neily said he became concerned when his father did not return and went to the ranch. There, he claims he found his father’s dog, Justice -- an animal family members said was always by David Neily's side -- inside the cab of a pickup truck.

"DeNoyer was not there, but his buddy, Ron Baumeister, was," Ryan Neily said. "Ron told me my dad had been there and left in his Mustang, so I went back to Albion with dad's dog."

Things did not sit well with Ryan, so the following day he returned to the ranch. He claims he did not see Baumeister or DeNoyer during his second trip, but he did make a startling discovery.

"I went further up the property and found both of Dad’s vehicles -- the 1967 Mustang he had been working on and the 1976 Ford T-Bird Dad had been driving the day he disappeared," Ryan Neily said. "It looked like he had been working on the Mustang and just walked away, because his glasses and wallet were sitting there on the seat. These were items he always had on him."

Caudillo confirmed to HuffPost that the Mustang and T-Bird were found on DeNoyer's property. He also said a search of the property was conducted, but nothing else of interest was found.

"We [took] cadaver dogs out to the property, but unfortunately, there was no indication of any type of human sign," Caudillo said. "They did alert on a shallow grave that ended up being a family pet that had been buried years prior, but that's the only indication they had on that property."

Since the search of DeNoyer's property, authorities have had little to go on. There have been no sightings of the two missing men and no activity in their bank accounts. The lack of developments has left both families bitter about DeNoyer.

"If my dad had never got involved with him, he would still be here," Hodanish said.

Jim Cavanaugh agreed.

"I think my dad went out there and got in a mess with a bunch of snakes and s--t went down," he said, adding, "The vibe there is everybody is scared to talk. I don't know why, but everybody seems petrified."

The Huffington Post was unsuccessful in its attempts to reach DeNoyer. Calls to his cellphone were not returned. According to Caudillo, DeNoyer has denied any knowledge of or involvement in the disappearances of Cavanaugh and Neily.

"It's obviously suspicious and more suspicious because two individuals, a year apart, had association with one individual and one property and now they're both missing," the veteran law enforcement officer said. "Obviously, to us, that is very suspicious ... [but] there has been no physical evidence tying Mr. DeNoyer to their disappearance. Ultimately, you can't rule Mr. DeNoyer out ... [but] the only thing we have is suspicion, and we’ve kind of run out of angles to attack that at without a direct witness or physical evidence."

In July 2007, two years after the animal cruelty charges were filed, DeNoyer's case went to court.

According to the Anderson Valley Advertiser, DeNoyer said he was unaware of how the horses were being treated and pointed a finger at his hired hands. John Gray, a customer of DeNoyer's and author of the popular book, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus," testified on behalf of DeNoyer, saying he was a man of good character, the newspaper reported.

The jury ultimately deadlocked 10 -- 2 for acquittal. As a result, the presiding judge declared a mistrial.

For nearly a decade, the families of Donald Cavanaugh and David Neily have been on an emotional roller coaster from hope to despair and back again.

Admittedly, authorities have been unable to ferret out any new clues. The investigation has become a casualty of underfunding and insufficient manpower.

"At this point we're kind of at a standstill," Caudillo said. "We don't have a body and we don't have any physical evidence. We obviously would like to find the bodies [and] close the case. As time goes by, the family becomes frustrated and we understand that ... [but] we have five investigators for the entire county. We're the fourth largest [county] in the state, and we are so far understaffed that it is ridiculous. But we will continue to do what we can, and when there is credible leads to be followed, we will follow them."

The cases of the two missing men may be cold for now, but the pain their loved ones feel continues to burn on the inside.

"This time of the year is always tough. My father's birthday is on the 29th. It's very difficult knowing he won't be here to celebrate it with us," Hodanish said.

Jim Cavanaugh said he was close with his dad and still has difficulty grasping the reality that he is not around.

"When you have somebody missing like this, it's hard to even believe," he said. "If I see a guy with a cowboy hat, I think of him. It's unreal. He is my father, and all I can say is it's hard for me to believe. The whole thing is like something you would see on TV."

At the time of his disappearance, Donald Cavanaugh was 63 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall and 140 pounds. He had gray hair and blue eyes. David Neily was 69 years old when he went missing. He was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 150 pounds and had gray hair, green eyes and a white beard. He suffered from stunted growth due to a heart murmur, and as a result his legs were not proportional to his body.

Anyone with information in either of these cases is asked to contact Sgt. Jason Caudillo at (707) 468-3423 or the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Anonymous tip line at (707) 234-2100. The family of David Neily has created the "Missing Person David Neily" Facebook page to share information and updates in the case.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.nbcnews.c...d-neily-n132501

 

Missing in America: Donald Cavanaugh & David Neily

 

JUN 16 2014, 4:08 PM ET

 

Donald Cavanaugh & David Neily both were involved with the same horse farm. They both went missing in California. They both are feared dead.

 

Cavanaugh went missing after he went to pick up his belongings from the farm after James DeNoyer, the farm's owner and Cavanaugh's nephew, accused him of stealing money.

 

Neily went missing after he went to pick up his car from that same farm after DeNoyer accused him of tipping off authorities about poor conditions there.

 

DeNoyer was charged with 36 counts of animal cruelty after 36 emaciated horses were removed from the farm.

 

The small California town they both were based in, Westport, has roughly 60 residents. None of them has come forward with any information.

 

DeNoyer has denied any knowledge of, or involvement in, the disappearances.

 

When he disappeared in 2005, Donald Cavanaugh was 63 years old, 5'8'' tall and 140 pounds. He had gray hair and blue eyes.

 

David Neily, when he disappeared in 2006, was 69 years old, 5'5'' inches tall, weighed 150 pounds and had gray hair, green eyes and a white beard.

 

Someone, somewhere knows something. If that person is you, please call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office tip line at (707) 234-2100.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.nbcnews.c...vanaugh-n261861

 

Missing in America: David Neily and Donald Cavanaugh

MISSING IN AMERICA: UNSOLVED

DEC 5 2014, 11:51 AM ET

 

Donald Cavanaugh, then 63, was reported missing in May of 2005. He was last seen in Ukiah, California in March of that year. His vehicle and personal property were later found at the horse ranch of his nephew, James DeNoyer, in Westport, California, where Cavanaugh had recently been employed. The two men allegedly had parted ways after DeNoyer accused Cavanaugh of stealing from him.

 

One year later, in May of 2006, David Neily, then 69, was reported missing in Westport. He also had been employed at the horse farm of James DeNoyer. Both of his vehicles were located on the DeNoyer property.

 

If you have any information about either case, please call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office tip line at (707) 234-2100.