LUBIN, Howard Guy

LUBIN, Howard Guy (c. 1943-1997) committed suicide by gun. His body was found floating off the east end of Santa Cruz Island on December 27, 1997.

In the News~

December 28, 1997 LAT]: “SANTA CRUZ ISLAND. Autopsy Planned on Body Found in Ocean. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday in Santa Barbara on a body found floating in the ocean off Santa Cruz Island near the Scorpion Ranch. A fisherman discovered the body about 8 a.m. Saturday near the Scorpion Anchorage at the southeast end of the island. The area had been closed for the past few weeks after an overnight storm dumped 11 inches of rain, flooding the Scorpion Ranch campground. Historic buildings were knocked off their foundations or destroyed, and officials estimated damage to the ranch at up to $1 million. As a result of the damage and a fear that subsequent storms could threaten property and lives, the superintendent of Channel Islands National Park, Tim Setnicka, closed the ranch to the public. Only recently has the ranch been reopened for day use, and Setnicka said the body probably is unrelated to the storm. "This is very strange," Setnicka said. "No one was reported missing to us." Ken Bortolazzo of Santa Barbara discovered the body, said Santa Barbara Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Peterson. Bortolazzo notified the park service ranger on Santa Cruz Island, who contacted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. That agency has jurisdiction over four of the five islands in Channel Islands National Park. "We always treat something like this seriously," Setnicka said. "The Sheriff's Department is clearly better suited to follow up on this kind of thing." The Coast Guard cutter Point Carew, based at Channel Islands Harbor, was on routine patrol in the area Saturday, and the crew retrieved the body about 9:15 a.m. Crew members took the body to Santa Barbara Harbor, and sheriff's deputies delivered it to the Santa Barbara County morgue. Authorities could not determine whether the body was that of a male or female. They hope the autopsy will shed light on the person's identity and cause of death. "The body was unidentifiable due to being in the water for up to two weeks," said Peterson. The only clothing on the body consisted of remnants of blue jeans and a boot, Peterson said. Authorities said it did not appear that the person met with foul play.”

December 31, 1997 [Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department News Release]: “Coroner's detectives today positively identified a body found floating off Santa Cruz Island on Saturday, December 27, 1997. Howard Guy Lubin, age 54, and a resident of Dana Point, was identified by dental charts and other items found in his possession. Lubin was reported missing on December 9, 1997 by his girlfriend, Sharon Jaye. She reported to the Orange County Sheriff's Department that Lubin was missing from his residence and that he left a suicide note. A search of the area found his vehicle parked at the Dana Point Harbor, and is vessel, a six-foot Achilles inflatable boat with an outboard motor was missing. Also missing from Lubin's residence was a large caliber handgun. That night the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the U. S. Coast Guard began a search around the harbor and waterways with negative results. His boat was found the next morning unoccupied approximately ten nautical miles south of Dana Point. Lubin was in the water for nineteen days until a local Santa Barbara fisherman spotted him floating near Scorpion Anchorage on the southeast edge of Santa Cruz Island last Saturday morning. His body was recovered by the Coast Guard and taken to Santa Barbara harbor where Santa Barbara Sheriff deputies took custody of him. U. S. Coast Guard personnel determined that the ocean currents were consistent with a body traveling this distance in this amount of time. An autopsy conducted this morning revealed that Lubin died from a single gunshot wound to the head that appeared to be self-inflicted. The weapon has not been recovered.”

December 31, 1998 [LAT]: “Authorities Identify Body Found at Sea. A body that was found floating in the ocean off Santa Cruz Island over the weekend was identified Tuesday as 54-year-old Howard Guy Lubin of Dana Point in Orange County. Sgt. Jim Peterson of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, which has been handling the investigation, said Lubin was reported missing by his girlfriend Dec. 9. His body, clothed only in jeans and a single boot, was found Dec. 27 by a fisherman who saw Lubin in the waters near the Scorpion anchorage at the southeast end of the island. Lubin, who was identified by his dental records, apparently committed suicide after taking his boat out from the Dana Point Harbor. A bullet wound was discovered in his head, Peterson said. ”