CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A woman who was the focus of a search on Thursday was found deceased, Clearlake Police said Friday.

The body of Julie Diehl, 44, was found Thursday afternoon in a field near Moose Trail, according to Sgt. Nick Bennett.

Bennett said that on Thursday at approximately 2:53 p.m. Clearlake Police were dispatched to the 3500 block of Moose Trail in Clearlake for a report of a missing person.

He said officers were told that Diehl had walked away from a residence on Moose Trail at approximately 9 a.m. The persons reporting her missing had been searching the fields and orchard areas near Moose Trail all day.

The area where Diehl was believed to be is bordered by a section of Moose Trail, Burns Valley Road and the south side of the field is bordered by businesses on Olympic Drive. Bennett said those initial search efforts by the reporting parties were unsuccessful.

When the Clearlake Police Department was contacted and a missing person report was filed it was learned that Diehl may be suffering from severe dementia and was considered to be an “at risk missing person.”

Because of the extremely hot temperatures the Clearlake area had been experiencing, Det. Travis Lenz contacted Lake County Fire Protection District's Station 70 to assist in conducting a search of the area where Diehl was last seen. Bennett said an incident command center was set up at the Redbud Library on Burns Valley Road.

Lake County Fire was able to communicate with a Cal Fire helicopter from the Boggs Helitack Station on Cobb Mountain that was returning from a fire in another area and it rerouted to this incident, Bennett said.

Within seven minutes of arriving in the area, the Cal Fire helicopter located Diehl in the field approximately two hundred yards from Moose Trail, Bennett said.

Diehl was deceased, and Bennett said there was no indication of foul play associated with her death. However, an investigation is continuing into the circumstances related to her death and disappearance.  

Lt. Tim Celli told Lake County News that Diehl's death may have been exposure related, but an autopsy is pending to confirm the cause.

Clearlake Police encourages the public to notify their local law enforcement agency immediately upon discovering a person is missing, especially in circumstances involving young children or mentally challenged individuals. Bennett said it's police's responsibility to protect and watch over those who are unable to do so for themselves.
 
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Det. Ryan Peterson at 707-994-8251, Extension 320.