VAN HOOREBEKE, Janice
VAN HOOREBEKE, Janice (1947-1968), 21, former Oklahoma beauty queen, was one of two persons asphyxiated aboard a cabin cruiser found floating off Catalina Island. Van Hoorebeke, was with Carl A. Jaeger, 25, of Marina Del Ray, also asphyxiated. Jaeger lived on the boat. Van Hoorebeke was crowned Miss Bartlesville in 1965, and had come to live in L. A. when she was a contender for queen of the New Year's Tournament of Roses.
In the News~
March 26, 1968 [SPNP]: “Pair found dead aboard drifting boat in channel. The bodies of a man and his female companion were found in the closed cabin of his 30-foot boat drifting off Catalina Island Monday, the apparent victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. Sheriff's department homicide detectives said the dead were identified as Carl A. Jaeger, 24, of Marina del Rey, and Jan Van Hoorebeke, 21, of Bartlesville, Okla. Detectives said the paid had taken Jaeger's 30-foot cabin cruiser to the island for the weekend and had anchored just off the Catalina Isthmus. To heat the cabin Sunday night, a detective said, they apparently lit a charcoal fire in a hibachi in the cabin, then closed the cabin doors and windows. They were then overcome by carbon monoxide fumes from the burning charcoal. Cause of death was listed as asphyxiation. A Coast Guard cutter from Long Beach found the boat drifting off the Isthmus at 2:20 p.m. Monday and discovered the bodies within. The pair had been dead for several hours, investigators said.”
March 26, 1968 [LAT]: “A young man and woman were found asphyxiated in the cabin of a small boat drifting off the Isthmus of Santa Catalina Island. Sheriff's deputies said a charcoal barbecue consumed all the air in the closed cabin. Dead were Carl. A. Jaeger, 26, of 4328 Via Marina, Marina del Rey, and Jan Van Hoorebeke, 26, of Bartlesville, Okla.”
March 28, 1968 [The Catalina Islander]: “The sea this week continued to take its toll of the unwary. A Marine Biology boat from Big Fisherman's Cover on Monday discovered a small cabin cruiser adrift in the Blue Caverns area with two dead bodies on board. The bodies were identified as Carl Jaeger, 26, of Marina del Rey and Janice Van Hoorebeke, 21, of Los Angeles. They were believed to have been dead for about 24 hours, according to the Avalon sheriff's deputies. Death was believed to have resulted by asphyxiation resulting from the use of a hibachi to heat the cabin of the craft. The bodies were returned to the mainland on Tuesday aboard a Sheriff's department plane.”
