Body Pulled From Ravine; Man, 38, Had Vanished

The body of an Orange man missing for three days was recovered by sheriff’s deputies Friday in a deep ravine near Santiago Canyon, authorities said.

Donald David Watrous, 38, was found not far from his pickup truck, which deputies had found abandoned late Wednesday on winding Modjeska Grade Road, where hiking and biking trails through the Cleveland National Forest begin, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Authorities said the cause of death was undetermined pending results of an autopsy to be done today.

Amormino said Watrous suffered from bipolar disorder and did not have medication, food or water with him.

“He could have gone up there and fallen off the cliff,” Amormino said, adding that, according to his family, Watrous had left no suicide note.

Watrous was last seen by his mother on Tuesday, when he told her he was leaving for work, Amormino said.

He never showed up in Corona, where he worked as a handyman.

After his employers called his home to find out why, his family filed a missing-persons report with the Orange Police Department.