Body found near Julian may be missing Sally Estabrook

Update: Missing Sally Estabrook’s body found

A woman’s body was found Wednesday in thick brush near Julian, about a half-mile from a campground where a 75-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease went missing nearly two months ago, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said.

The clothing the deceased woman was wearing resembles what Sally Estabrook was wearing when she was reported missing from the Pinezanita RV Park & Campgrounds, sheriff’s homicide Lt. John Maryon said.

The campground is about four miles south of Julian along state Route 79.

A positive identification, as well as cause of death, will be determined by the Medical Examiner’s Office, but it doesn’t appear foul play was involved, the lieutenant said in a statement early Thursday.

Deputies responded about 3:20 p.m. Wednesday after the body was found off Coulter Ridge Road, near Route 79. The statement did not say who discovered the body.

Estabrook, of Fallbrook, is the mother-in-law of Megadeth lead singer Dave Mustaine. She and her husband had been camping with friends in their recreational vehicle on Oct. 4 when her husband went to take a shower about 4 p.m. When he returned, his wife was gone. She had been wearing a teal top, Capri pants and tennis shoes.

Mustaine and his wife, Pam, had pleaded at a Sheriff’s Department news conference for the public’s help in finding her as family and friends took part in the search.

Hundreds of searchers, many of them volunteers, looked for her for days, scouring a six-mile area around the campground. In addition to San Diego sheriff’s deputies and volunteers, searchers included authorities from San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties. Dogs and horses were used, as well as off-road vehicles. Helicopters scoured a 60-square-mile area.

Jan Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department, said earlier that the hilly, rocky and ravine-filled terrain around the campground made for a challenging search.

She said authorities had feared Estabrook could have fallen down a hill and injured herself.