CA Doctor gets trapped in ex-bf's chimney, dies

[Rex]

Truth can truly be stranger than fiction...

Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, first tried to get into the house with a shovel, then climbed a ladder to the roof last Wednesday night, removed the chimney cap and slid feet first down the flue, Bakersfield police Sgt. Mary DeGeare said.

See, this is crazy right here. Just let it go.

One of my exes had taken to writing letters to my grandma, who, fortunately could no longer read, so she couldn't understand it. Although she did have a few questions about the naked pics he sent of himself.

Moodie, who runs an engineering consulting firm, said Kotarac was a superb internist who often provided service and medication free of charge to her patients.

These people, along with her family, will suffer the most.

The authorities are treating the death as "suspicious", but to me, it cannot be anything other than stalking gone bad.

And forgive me, but part of me is giggling a little bit at this. Maybe it's nerves.

Discuss.

[BigB08822]

Well it could potentially be that he killed her and shoved her down the chimney, trying to make it look like stalking gone bad. Just playing devil's advocate.

[Rex]

Well it could potentially be that he killed her and shoved her down the chimney, trying to make it look like stalking gone bad. Just playing devil's advocate.

I hear that theme song from CSI playing in the distance, Brian.....whoooooooooooooooooooooooooo ahhhhhhhhhhhhh you you, you you!????!???

[skatingfan5]

Well it could potentially be that he killed her and shoved her down the chimney, trying to make it look like stalking gone bad. Just playing devil's advocate.

That's a rather unlikely scenario, although that article contains some statements that taken together leave one a bit .

While she was trying to break in, the man she was pursuing escaped unnoticed from another exit "to avoid a confrontation," authorities said.'

Kotarac apparently died in the chimney, but her body was not discovered until a house-sitter noticed a stench and fluids coming from the fireplace Saturday, according to a police statement.

Officials said Kotarac's office staff reported her missing two days prior when she failed to show for work. Her car and belongings remained near the man's house.

So she's trying to break into the ex's house last Wednesday, he "escaped" from another exit, she's reported missing by her office, her car and belongings remain near his house for days until her body is discovered on Saturday by a house-sitter. I suppose the ex could have previously planned to be away from home, hence the house-sitter, but some things about the sequence seem a bit strange. Why didn't the ex call the police if she were trying to break into his house? Surely they would have heard her calling for help if she were trapped in the chimney. Playing the devil's advocate, it's possible that the ex didn't "escape" until after she had gotten trapped in the chimney. Sad for her family and patients, but truly bizarre.

[Cheylana]

I agree; it seems strange if he just left her there to die. Maybe he didn't reailze she would get stuck in there?

[Allen]

Well it could potentially be that he killed her and shoved her down the chimney, trying to make it look like stalking gone bad. Just playing devil's advocate.

You know I thought the same thing at first. Wow, let's say she really did try to get down the chimney of her own accord, that's some crazy Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction stuff, maybe even worse.

I guess the big question is, who, stalker or not, decides to slide down someone's chimney...that's mega cuckoo bird crazy.

[skatingfan5]

I agree; it seems strange if he just left her there to die. Maybe he didn't reailze she would get stuck in there?

Well, the way the story is written, you get the impression that he left the house before she came down the chimney (it says he left unseen by another exit, which I took to mean that she was trying to break in at a door). But that would necessarily only be his report to the police of what happened.

[Rex]

I wonder if anyone would have been able to hear her screams if she were stuck.

[Beefcake]

Gruesomely horrible way to die. The existing stench and "fluids" (ugh!) at least indicate hope that she suffocated quickly versus lingering there, squashed in her chimney-coffin for many hours.

[skatingfan5]

I wonder if anyone would have been able to hear her screams if she were stuck.

I would think that anyone in the house would have been able to hear her (I once heard birds that were nesting in a chimney) -- but of course, I really can't know for sure.

[Rex]

You don't think he KNEW she was in the chimney? Or did he leave when he heard her try to break open the door with the shovel?

[znachki]

I hear that theme song from CSI playing in the distance, Brian.....whoooooooooooooooooooooooooo ahhhhhhhhhhhhh you you, you you!????!???

They already did a stuck down the chimney story.

I'm wondering if this will be in contention for the Darwin Awards?

[skatingfan5]

You don't think he KNEW she was in the chimney? Or did he leave when he heard her try to break open the door with the shovel?

To me, that is the big question. But even if he left before she was trying to get in through the chimney, I wonder why he didn't call the police to report it.

[Squibble]

She should have watched this before she attempted anything so crazy!

[orbitz]

Do people realize that there's a shutter that can be open and close to let the smoke into the chimney? And even if the shutter is opened, it's only a slit, how in the heck do people expect to get through it? Also, do people think there's a step ladder inside the chimney that will let one gently climb down inside it? Wouldn't the doctor have let out some cry for help once she realized she's stuck? It doesn't make sense.

[mrr50]

Santa has a lot to answer for

[Gazpacho]

Like many of you, I'm not convinced this wasn't a murder. Waiting for the autopsy.

[Beefcake]

CNN's version gives a clearer chain-of-events. Says bf just stayed that night elsewhere, apparently came back to the hosue the next day, then - AFTER first reporting her missing/reporting the incident - left for Europe.

I think it's reasonable that the boyfriend wouldn't have known that she was in the chimney. (The authories apparently didn't think to look there, either.) I mean, "who" would think to look in the chimney? Even if a ladder was seen at the side of the house, one would think she had tried to get into a window, then given up and left.

Kotarac was last seen Wednesday night at about 10:15 p.m., "trying to force her way inside (the home) as she was involved in a dating relationship with the resident," police said. "The resident left the house undetected to avoid a confrontation and stayed the night elsewhere."

Authorities did not identify the boyfriend or say why Kotarac was attempting to get inside his home.

Kotarac did not arrive for work on Thursday, and her assistant and the boyfriend searched for her at his home. Her car and belongings were there, but there was no indication she had gotten inside, police said. The boyfriend and her medical staff reported her missing.

"Her purse was there, with her phone, all her money, all her credit cards, all that stuff," neighbor Terri Terrazas told CNN affiliate KBAK-TV.

Thursday night, the boyfriend stayed at the home before leaving for Europe, police told KBAK

[Rex]

She sounded so intelligent and compassionate; when did she 'buy the crazy'?

[JerseySlore]

This is just so sad. This is yet another case that proves intelligence and sanity doen't go hand in hand.