The Aftermath

Dearest Beloved Shawn, We miss your loving face, pure joy for life, bashful stolen gazes, immense compassion for others, unconditional faith in friends and family, wisdom, and yes even your sharp wit. Although you're always in our thoughts, we try desperately to move on without you - it's so hard. The world has lost an incredible gift but while you were here you made such a difference. You make us think, strive to better ourselves, and live by our ideals. You got from this life what you set out to, turned into a wonderful confident man, and we are so proud of you.
-Love forever, Your Family

In an attempt to collect the facts and understand the sequence of events concerning the tragedy a gauntlet was encountered which included the 911 Communications Center, San Francisco Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Golden Gate National Park Service, and U.S. Park Police.

911 Communications Center - After receiving a call from Rob's roommate and friend who worked in Berkeley, a neighbor called 911 at 2:04 p.m. on March 29, 2006 to seek assistance. At least an hour had elapsed since Rob got home from Sutro Baths. Although the recording of the conversation clearly indicates that the neighbor stated that "one of his friends may have drowned, and I'm not sure if that's been reported either.... He won't come out of the bathtub and he won't answer any questions about exactly what happened, and again, like I said, I'm not sure if, the death last night (note: the neighbor thought the drowning happened the previous night) has been reported yet.... And there's another girl here that's one of his friends that, and she came over, and she's like, really freaking out. She's really worried too." The 911 operator said nothing about a drowning when she dispatched the police for a possible 801 (person attempting suicide) nor did she record this in the written transcript. On April 14, 2006, an Emergency Communications Center representative justified the operator's actions by stating that the drowning was a "secondary issue" and "we don't explore those issues." She also stated she has been doing this for a very long time and "I would not have gone back to that [the drowning].... If you go off on a tangent they go on and on."

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) - Three officers arrived at Rob's apartment within seven minutes of the 911 call. After they talked Rob out of the bathroom and into getting dressed, the girl who kept pressing to find out about Shawn told police officers at least three times that Shawn was missing, he was with Rob at Sutro Baths that morning, he did not return with Rob, and Rob says he drowned. The neighbor who called 911 witnessed this. The officers told her to calm down and that they would talk with Rob about it in their vehicle on the way to the hospital. They gave her a paper with their names, phone number, and a case number. They handcuffed Rob, took him to San Francisco General Hospital, dropped him off, and closed the case. She later called the number to find out what they'd done about finding Shawn. SFPD told her she had to wait 24 hours and then file a missing person's report (per the California Department of Justice there is no such requirement).

The call to the family was made by the U.S. Coast Guard on March 30, 2006 around 7:15 PM. Shawn had not arrived as expected and had not been returning phone calls. The Coast Guard stated Rob's sister had called SFPD Search and Rescue (from Sacramento) and they had forwarded her to the Coast Guard. The family requested Rob's sister's contact information. The Coast Guard stated this incident was on National Park grounds so the U.S. Park Police would be responsible but SFPD should be contacted to file a missing person's report. SFPD asked the family to file a report in other counties and finally decided on Santa Barbara. The family complied to get the ball rolling. After complying with all requirements and calling back, the SFPD operator Shawn's mom spoke with said, "so what do you want us to do about it?" The answer of course was clear: Go find him-investigate what happened. In a phone conversation on July 14, 2006 with the lead officer that responded to the 911 call, he stated several times he stands by his report. Five requests to obtain a copy of this report have been denied for different reasons.

U.S. Coast Guard - On March 30, 2006 around 7:15, mom received a call from the Coast Guard asking if Shawn was missing because around 6:45 p.m. they had received a report from Rob's sister that Rob saw Shawn drown the day before, some 32 hour earlier. As soon as the family found out, a request was made to search the area for Shawn immediately. Although the family was told an aerial search would be conducted that night, one was not conducted until the following morning.

U.S. Park Police (part of the National Park Service) - Shawn is listed as a Missing Person under Suspicious Circumstances on the Department of Justice's NCIC database (http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/detail.asp?FCN=98206101003291) . The responsible agency is listed as the U.S. Park Police-San Francisco under Case Number 0603019. The Park Service has had a very defensive posture since the very beginning. There seems to be a conflict of interest when an agency responsible for the care and safety of an area is also responsible for the investigation of an incident on the land it is charged with administering! Pursuant to requests by many who are outraged by the lack of diligence on the part of law enforcement, a petition requesting full investigation was submitted by UC Santa Barbara graduate students to no avail.

Shawn's body has never been recovered. The Park Service denied the family's request to place a plaque in the tunnel to serve as both a reminder of the danger the cave poses and in remembrance of Shawn. According to Rob, Shawn tried to come up the cave wall and was unable to. Rob described how he watched Shawn struggle to come up the wall, then get slammed by waves, and finally struggle to keep his head above water as he was pulled out to sea. It's unclear how he got down there. It was mid-day in a tourist area! The family does believe he drowned based on pictures taken by a tourist.