Jack’s Surfboards is adding $9,000 to an existing $1,000 reward for information in the suspicious death of Dane Williams, the Hurley employee who went missing at ASR and was later found dead.
I also spoke with San Diego Police Lt. Kevin Rooney this afternoon to get an update on the investigation.
He told me:
- The toxicology results will not be available for another three weeks. The autopsy was inconclusive.
- The police have not been able to trace Dane’s steps from the last time he was seen Jan. 26 about 1:30 a.m. outside the Hard Rock hotel in downtown San Diego until his body was found three days later in an alley seven miles away. The police reviewed surveillance video from different businesses along 5th Avenue, where they believe Dane would have walked that night, but did not see him. They have also distributed flyers downtown and in the neighborhood where he was found but nobody has come forward.
- The death is considered suspicious but has not been ruled a homicide.
- There is no indication Dane had a drug issue, Rooney said.
- The area where Dane was found was a densely populated residential neighborhood, but the alley was off the beaten path which leads police to believe whoever put him there knew the neighborhood.
- The doctor on the scene when the body was found Jan. 29 at 6:30 a.m. in the morning believes Dane had been dead several days. People who were in the alley at 9:30 p.m. the night before he was found said there was not a body there then. Thus police believe he was already deceased when he was placed there, Rooney said.
- Rooney also said Dane’s friends should be proud of themselves for rallying a search effort for Dane. “They knew it was out of character (for him to disappear) and they did something about it. They did everything they could,” he said.
Here’s the press release about the reward:
Dane Williams Suspicious Death
Reward Increased to $10,000
Release Date: February 21, 2008
San Diego County Crime Stoppers, working with the San Diego Police Department’s homicide unit, is seeking any information regarding the suspicious death of Dane Williams.
Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach is offering an additional reward of $9,000 for any information that leads to a felony arrest in this case. This reward, coupled with Crime Stoppers $1,000, now brings the total reward to $10,000.
On January 26, 2008, 23-year-old Dane Williams, an employee of Hurley International, attended a convention at the San Diego Convention Center. He was last seen at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Saturday morning leaving a Gaslamp area bar.
On January 29, 2008, at approximately 6:30 a.m., a citizen saw a body lying in the North alley of 5200 Landis Street. The body was later identified as Dane Williams. The cause and manner of Williams’ death is still undetermined.
Anyone with any information on Dane Williams’ death is asked to call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-TIPS. Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $10,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to a felony arrest.
