Body of missing Northern California man found in Baja pit; Mexican police announce arrests

When 80-year-old traveler Wilmer Dean Trivett failed to show for his daily coffee with friends in Baja California Sur one February morning, those who knew the retired AAA insurance employee grew concerned.

Longtime friend Barnett English described Trivett as a “genuine and caring person who wouldn’t miss a chance to catch up.”

Friends and fellow snowbirds began an in-person and virtual search that led to finding his dog and, eventually, his burned-out camper on Feb. 23.

Mexican authorities concluded a nearly two-month hunt by announcing in a news conference April 5 that they had discovered Trivett’s body in an isolated pit about 25 miles outside the seaside village of Todos Santos.

Police had employed the use of a specially-trained cadaver dog.

Baja California Sur state prosecutor Daniel de la Rosa also announced that a brother and sister were arrested on March 23 in connection with Trivett’s disappearance and charged with murder.

De la Rosa did not provide last names for the suspects, describing them on PowerPoint slides as Juan Hector and Joseline Guadalupe. He did, however, offer a reason behind the slayings.

“You know what the motive was?” he asked rhetorically at a press conference. “It was a car accident.”

De la Rosa said Trivett hit the car of the perpetrators at an unknown time with his camper. Trivett then paid the duo $50,000 pesos, roughly $2,700, for damages and medical expenses.

De la Rosa said they grew dissatisfied with the settlement and eventually abducted and killed Trivett.

“The accident happened a couple of years ago, but honestly, Dean barely mentioned it,” English, 60, said. “The amount of grief and heartbreak caused over something so trivial is unbelievable.”

Prosecutors say Wilmer Dean Trivett was killed by two people after a dispute over a car accident.

(Courtesy of Barnett English)

What has caused the most stress among Trivett’s family and friends has been the drawn-out search for answers, English said.

Trivett was last seen on Feb. 11. On the day of Trivett’s disappearance, English said that friends in Baja distributed fliers while he and others plastered social media and news sites around Todos Santos with notices.

“I’ve never experienced this phenomena before of prolonged grief of waiting and finding out if your friend or loved one is dead or not. It’s awful,” he said. “While this news helps, what’s most important now for family and friends is that we get Dean’s body back here in the United States and we get some closure.”

English, who is organizing the Joshua Tree Music Festival that begins May 18, said he would hold a celebration of life for Trivett on May 19 at 5 p.m. at the event.

“Dean would have liked us to remember him with music and surrounded by good friends,” English said.

English’s friendship with Trivett was a testament to the latter’s outgoing nature.

The duo met in 1993 when English operated his own coffee booth inside the Kirkwood Ski Resort, located about an hour south of Lake Tahoe on the California side.

Trivett was a skier and resident of nearby Markleeville, and the two struck up a friendship in which Trivett accompanied English “to hundreds of concerts and music festivals” selling coffee.

English said that Trivett retired 17 or 18 years ago and traveled in the camper throughout North America with his wife, Jackie, and their dog. They camped near Todos Santos for years, English said.

According to English, Jackie Trivett died in 2019 due to pancreatic cancer and Dean Trivett didn’t return to traveling until last winter.

“He had such a zest for life,” English said. “He was going to turn 81 this year but he was so fit and in great shape. It’s sad he’s gone because he had so much life to live.”