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Authorities: Palmdale man drowned

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Fire Department personnel gather at the scene Tuesday, Oct. 20. (Photo by LUIS MEZA.)
Fire Department personnel gather at the scene Tuesday, Oct. 20. (Photo by LUIS MEZA.)

PALMDALE – Authorities on Friday said a man who was found dead inside a vehicle that was swamped by mud during the storm that slammed the Antelope Valley last week died of drowning.

The body of 49-year-old Robert Michael Rasmussen of Palmdale was discovered around 12:50 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, inside a minivan that was buried in a culvert in the 41800 block of Karen Drive in Palmdale. Rasmussen’s body was found when crews dug the vehicle out.

Robert Rasmussen [Facebook photo]
Robert Rasmussen [Facebook photo]
An autopsy determined that Rasmussen died of drowning, and his death has been classified as an accident, said coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter.

Sheriff’s officials said Tuesday the minivan was spotted by a public works employee trying to clear the basin. Residents insisted, however, that they had been pushing authorities to search the area since the Oct. 15 storm, saying they saw a vehicle get swept away during the rainstorm that slammed the Antelope Valley and sent lava-like flows of mud through area streets.

One resident told ABC7 she called 911 on the day of the storm to report a vehicle caught in a debris flow and then disappearing. She said she told a dispatcher the vehicle floated for about five minutes, then sank into the debris flow.

Palmdale City Manager James Purtee said authorities responded to the report, but could not find the vehicle. He said search crews were using 3-foot-long metal poles to probe the mud for any signs of a buried vehicle, but Rasmussen’s minivan was buried by about six feet of mud.

Search crews “did the best they could do under these emergency conditions,” he said.

Relatives said Rasmussen was house-sitting in Palmdale for his parents, who were visiting Israel. Rasmussen’s mother, Virginia Driscoll, and her 24-year-old son visited the scene on Wednesday.

“It must have happened so quick,” Driscoll told ABC7 at the scene.

She fought back tears as she remembered her son.

“Everybody has a certain amount of time here, and apparently this was his time to go,” Driscoll said. “I’ll miss him very much.”

Authorities on Oct. 20 explain how the body was found

Previous related story:VIDEO: Body found in vehicle buried in mud in Palmdale

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Filed Under: Palmdale

33 comments for "Authorities: Palmdale man drowned"

  1. I want to thank all the kind people that posted on this web site. But I would like to say to the rest that say he chanced it and should have known better, you should get your facts straight first. According to the eye witnesses there was no water while he was going up the road, a giant wave came down the side of the mountain(on the drivers side of the car) out of nowhere he did not have a chance. The wave came up and over his car and took him in to the basin, what could have saved his life would have been a metal grate placed over the basin so nothing but water & mud could fall in. Yes many people take chances in water we see it all the time, but this was not the case in this one. Signed his loving Sister. He will be missed.

    • Yes it was a freak accident. I knew “Robbie” from high school and I can only comment on his good character, work ethics, love for his mom, and how proud he was of his son from his social media postings and my convesations with family and friends. I will say as a former investigator and traffic officer, my observations at the accident scene led me to believe that a large amount of mud did escape the hillside onto the street at the time the mini-van was adjacent and should be considered an accident and not driver negligence. Lastly, he had a very nice funeral, I was honored to be there. All my condolences.

  2. Camp 16. If your an inmate how do you have access to a computer. Those paid firemen busted their butts that day. Keep your incarcerated mouth quiet. He shouldn’t have tried to cross the mud flow and jeopardize his own life.

    • Really Camp Murray?

      I guess you were there too. I doubt Camp 16 Malibu is incarcerated. Might be a supervising fireman perhaps, like the late and great Arnie Quinones, who was LAFD, supervised and taught “real men” how to help their communities, and died fighting fires. Don your shirt, tool. “Don’t save my burning ass if you’re an inmate firefighter. Just piss on my face. I’m thirsty.”

  3. Our sincere condolences to Michael’s family. We did not get to meet Michael but he used to wave as we drove by his parents house when he was out there. We will miss and remember his friendly smile.

  4. Unwarranted, Wish he would have stopped and thought about.
    He bounced against that wall like a pinball!
    That aquaduct probably spared many lives and catastrophic damage like a firebreak does.

    • Rego,
      I wish you would STOP and THINK about your untimely, insensitive comments before you disrespect the man’s family and their loss by comparing the deceased to an arcade game. Your lack of compassion is the only thing unwarranted here.

      • It is a difficult thing…to put out the kind of message needed for future prevention without crossing the line of “speaking ill of the dead.” My condolences to the family not only for the loss of their loved one, but for the necessity of saying that there is a lesson for all in the mistakes he himself made that led to his death.

        Driving in a vehicle creates a false sense of power. Sometimes that takes the form of challenging nature on terms that are so unfavorable as to be downright foolish. Running water of unknown depth, possibly flowing over a submerged mudflow; does this sound like something you would throw yourself into? Of course not. SO DON’T. Don’t convince yourself that some steel box with rubber tires makes you invincible.

          • Really. So you think the best time to talk about being safe in storms is on a bright sunny day when no one even remembers the consequences?

            No point telling you to STFU, since the more you talk the stupider you look.

      • Hey Dr. Phil
        My condolences do go out to the family.
        I was just thinking of the horrifying reality.
        OK Dr. Phil Get it Got it.

  6. On behalf of Camp 16 Malibu and other California Department of Corrections inmate firefighters who worked tirelessly digging for your son, brother, husband we wish our sincere condolences. It’s interesting to know that LAFD/LASD wanted to take credit when all they did was stand around with their thumbs up their butts watching us.

    • I know exactly what your saying here. I was in a firecamp up in Fresno back in 2009 and it made me so sick to see these useless bastards make the money they make for doing absolutely nothing while all the inmates bust their asses on every fire they go out on. If the public knew what goes on behind the fire roadblocks they would be infuriated.

    • Thank you for pointing that out. I wish more people would recognize all the hard work your crew did. SHOUT out to CAMP 6 Malibu and the Department of Corrections Inmate firefighters who worked very hard while the LASD once again did nothing. Just like the lady said reported it but they didn’t do enough. The storm came and went in a matter of minutes. They could only look wiyh a 3 foot device due to the conditions…what conditions confused… Next time you should call this crew seems if they work harder. I hope this is not what we have to deal with with the upcoming weather reports for this winter there will be many more horrible stories like this. My prayers are with you

      • As inmate firefighters, we are proud of the investment the State of California and taxpayers make in training to assist CalFire, Dept of Forestry when needed. It’s a 4k investment per inmate a year. We are 4,400 inmate firefighters strong awhowho chose to do this type of work at less than a dollar per hour.

        Crime sells, so why would the media and law enforcement want to give us credit where do. NOT!!! But I will tell you that educating the community on these types of situations will save more lives. We watched as kids were in the street, neck deep in water not knowing the dangers of the current or undertow. Hopefully the City of Palmdale/Lancaster will not lets this mans death be in vain. El Nino is upon us in monsoon season.

        Tothe family of this man, we had a brief prayer for him as we we unearthed him knowing he’s in a better place, an angel amongst the community and unfortunately avictim of mother nature. It was his time.

    • Why do you want credit? You want a cookie? Who cares who did what. Stay out of jail and you won’t have to be in camp inmate.

      • Murray, there is no comment I could make to convey the level of disgust I have for you that wouldn’t be blocked. You should get a shirt that says “if you are an inmate firefighter leave me to burn” and be forced to wear it.

          • LOL…I have time. It took me less than a minute to zip that one out. Trolls will be trolls, but I enjoy smacking them around so it all works out.

      • Hey Murray- You have quite a mouth piece there. Really, you ought to think about the choices you make as you may end up being an inmate yourself. Instead of a mirror to look at yourself in, I have a shovel that would make you look better in reflection hmmm.

      • Heard about you Murray in our briefing today. You seem to be a piece of work behind a keyboard. We’re doing clean-up in your area so why don’t you give us your address so we can mop up your mouth and then some

    • Prayers and condolences to the family. Thank you Camp 16, your thoughts and hard work will be remembered.

    • Hey inmate, you should feel lucky and privileged that you are on a crew, and not locked down 24/7. Do you really think LASD or LACo Fire wanted “credit” for digging up a dead man? That’s why you’re in jail, you insist on getting “credit” for just doing what you were assigned to do. You probably want “credit” for getting up on time each day. Hey Mrs Wonder, the coroner said the man drowned. So let me ask you:if a wall of mud sweeps a car into a ditch and covers it in 6 feet of mud within seconds, how exactly did you expect our local cops to save this guy? Cops aren’t in the digging business, or the “diving into a wall of mud so they can die” business. By all accounts, the fire dept. responded and couldn’t find a car. How exactly is the the fault of the cops…or the fire dept? Like every natural disaster, (fire, flood,earthquake,etc) there is no guarantee you will be rescued by first responders. There is well established case law that first responders are under no obligation to protect individual persons, especially when they decide to drive through a raging river of mud. The Valley was falling apart for several hours, and rescues were taking place in numerous places. Resources were stretched thin. Yes, it would’ve been nice to recover his body sooner, but he was dead within seconds. Mike C—if you’re sick of watching people make more money than you, stay out of jail and get a real job!

      • Here’s another one who needs a shirt telling the “dirty inmates” to just leave him to burn.

  7. What a great smile. I like what his mother said. Sometimes you get a snapshot of a person and from that tiny moment in their life when they were beaming sunshine and happiness, and it was captured on camera, you know that they were good, that their life meant something.