Welcome to a sometimes continuing series covering a never-ending story, people behaving badly, allegedly

Well, lawdy, lawdy, lawdy Miss Clawdy; hear ye, feel ye, this way comes some of the worst of the worst in a December to disremember in the wonderfully wanky world of People Behaving Badly: Get it over with already edition.

Lot of missing people not appearing well

Monday morning. Dec. 9, San Diego. 5:58 a.m. A call comes in about a body washed ashore near Bermuda Avenue at Sunset Cliffs, Point Loma.

San Diego lifeguards respond, but the scene is empty. They figure the ocean pulled the body back out. The search goes on for 30 minutes before the Coast Guard takes over on the water.

By 8 a.m., lifeguards spot the body near the shoreline. They call in more hands to retrieve it. It’s a man, late 40s. Police say the body shows “obvious signs of death.” Rigor mortis has already set in.

The Medical Examiner is on the case, determining cause of death and confirming ID. San Diego PD is running their own investigation. Just the facts.

December to disremember/Grapevine Graphics

Meanwhile...

Monday morning. Dec. 9, East County. The body of a 71-year-old woman, Vivian Crowder, was discovered near the onramp from La Mesa Boulevard to eastbound Interstate 8.

Crowder, who had been missing for over a month and suffered from dementia, was found by California Highway Patrol officers and Caltrans workers.

La Mesa Police confirmed the identification. The investigation into her death is ongoing. Just the facts.

And in national missing bodies news…

The search for 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard, who fell into a sinkhole in Pennsylvania earlier this week, has concluded after local authorities confirmed her body has been found.

Pollard was reported missing early on Tuesday morning, after having last been seen looking for her cat in Westmoreland County. Search crews began operations at the site of a sinkhole near an abandoned coal mine, working diligently to dig out and reinforce the area for nearly two days.

By Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police announced that the effort had shifted from a rescue operation to a recovery phase

Bodies, bodies, bodies in Allied Gardens

Well, folks, here’s one for the history books: in Allied Gardens, they found a woman in a freezer — nine years after anyone last saw her. Now, if that doesn’t make you reconsider the leftovers in your own freezer, I don’t know what will.

Here’s the kicker: the police think her husband, Robert Haxby, put her there. The man himself? He’s checked out too, passing away earlier this year. Quite the family reunion waiting for someone up there — or down there, depending on how these things work out.

Now, the medical examiner’s office has weighed in, and the verdict is… drumroll… undetermined. Which is the forensic equivalent of a shrug. As for Social Security and Veterans Affairs, the cops looked into whether someone was cashing her checks while she was on ice. Turns out, without knowing when exactly she passed, they can’t prove a crime. So, it’s a case of Schrodinger’s Social Security fraud — simultaneously guilty and innocent.

Meanwhile, back at the scene of this suburban drama, the neighbors are trying to make sense of it all. Patricia down the block summed it up with all the existential weight of a Shakespearean tragedy: “It’s sad.” Yes, Patricia, it is.

Be careful out there/Grapevine Graphics

And that house? It’s frozen in time, too. Crime scene tape fading in the sun, abandoned cars still parked, and mail piling up like a shrine to bureaucratic oversight. It’s the kind of setting that would make Alfred Hitchcock jealous.

But wait, what about the couple’s son? Surely this is where the plot thickens! Nope. Police say he’s not a suspect. In fact, they can’t even confirm he lived there. Maybe he’s the smartest one in the whole story — disappearing entirely.

So, where does this leave us? The case isn’t closed, just “inactive.” Which is to say, it’s hanging out in the great cold case freezer of the San Diego PD, right next to a suspicious meatloaf and a 10-year-old box of fish sticks.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not just a story; it’s a Coen Brothers movie waiting to happen.

In pit bull dogs behaving badly to their masters news

Now, the way we hear it, there’s a fella by the name of Pedro Luis Ortega, age 26, who meets his end in a most unfortunate manner at Mesa Viking Park in Mira Mesa. This is not your usual case of a guy having a tough day. No, sir, because what happens is his own three dogs turn on him, which is not the kind of loyalty you hope for from man’s best friend.

It’s about high noon on a Friday when this business goes down, and by the time the authorities show up, the poor guy is beyond help. Another good Samaritan tries to step in and gets chewed up for their troubles. They land in the hospital with what’s described as serious bite injuries, though word has it they’ll pull through.

Now, these dogs—big brutes of an American bully breed called XL bullies—are rounded up quick. Two are nabbed on the spot, and the third is found cooling its heels in a parked car. All three are placed in bite quarantine, and by Saturday, they’re euthanized. Their remains will be checked for rabies, though if you ask me, rabies or not, it’s clear these pups weren’t playing by the usual dog rules.

The San Diego Humane Society, which handles animal control in these parts, says there’s no record of complaints about these dogs before now. A resident, Paul Ngo, mentions seeing the guy walking his dogs, trying to keep them in line, saying, “Hey, be gentle, be nice.” A noble effort, but apparently not enough to keep things from going sideways.

The authorities are digging into the details

Bad beats at El Cajon leaves woman dead after trying to drive over police officer

The sky above El Cajon bore the pale hue of an early December afternoon, light filtering softly over the city like a veil. Inside the police station on Civic Center Way, laughter echoed through the halls.

Officers in dress blues and civilians in quiet celebration gathered to honor the retirement of Capt. Rob Ransweiler, a man who’d spent decades navigating the sharp edges of law enforcement. But outside, in the west parking lot, an entirely different story was beginning to unfold, one destined to unravel the fragile ease of that day.

At precisely 12:42 p.m., a black Toyota Tundra sat idling in the lot—a shadow amid orderly rows of vehicles. Two officers, a sergeant and a lieutenant, stood on the sidewalk nearby, their conversation mundane, a pause in the rhythm of their duties.

The truck backed out of its space slowly, deliberately, the moment ordinary enough to go unnoticed. But then, without warning, its trajectory changed. The vehicle paused, as if hesitating, then lunged forward with an unnatural urgency.

What followed was as quick as it was brutal, a blur of panic and metal and flesh. The truck barreled toward the officers. One managed to leap aside, but the sergeant was less fortunate. The vehicle struck him, his body arching in the air before collapsing to the pavement like a discarded marionette.

Even as the lieutenant called for backup, the truck reversed, its tires screeching against the concrete. It came again, its movements precise and unrelenting, like a predator intent on its kill.

By the time additional officers arrived, the encounter had reached its climax. The sergeant, bruised and battered on the ground, and a responding patrol officer, weapon drawn, fired at the vehicle. Gunshots punctured the crisp air, their echoes bouncing off the station’s walls.

The truck’s driver, a woman whose name had not yet been released, was struck multiple times. Moments later, she lay lifeless within the shattered remains of her vehicle. The driver’s-side window glimmered.

And as “Hill Street Blues” Sergeant Phil Esterhaus: [at end of roll call] says: All right, that’s it, let’s roll. And Hey!… let’s be careful out there.