Death Valley National Park Homicide Reports

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOI-NPS-2023-003563&type=Request)

* Tracking Number: DOI-NPS-2023-003563
* Requester Name:
Olive Giner
* Date Submitted: 03/27/2023
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Reports and/or case incidents relating to homicides taking place at Death Valley National Park from January 2020 onwards. I would like to receive all materials related to this request, including those which may contain segregable information.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Olive Giner

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

March 29, 2023

Olive Giner

Via email: requests@muckrock.com

MuckRock News, DEPT

MR143379 263 Huntington Ave

Boston, MA 02115

Dear Olive Giner:

We are writing to acknowledge your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted on March 27, 2023 and received by the National Park Service (NPS) Interior Regions 8, 9, 10, 12 on the same date. Your request was assigned Department of the Interior (DOI) tracking number DOI-NPS-2023-003563. Please cite this number in any future communications with our office regarding your request.

You requested:

“Reports and/or case incidents relating to homicides taking place at Death Valley National Park from January 2020 onwards.”

There were two homicides in Death Valley National Park during the time period you specify. The press releases related to each of them are available at:

* Fatalities 01-13-2023 - Death Valley National Park <https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news/fatalities-01-13-2023.htm>
* Fatality 2020-10-11 - Death Valley National Park <https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news/fatality-2020-10-11.htm>

Additionally, you may be interested in contacting the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department as they are the lead agency with jurisdiction over homicide cases in those portions of Death Valley National Park. The NPS’s role was as support to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department.

Multitrack Processing

We use Multitrack Processing to process FOIA requests. The Simple track is for requests that would generally take one to five workdays to process. The Normal track is for requests that would generally take six to twenty workdays to process. The Complex track is for requests that would generally take twenty-one to sixty workdays to process. The Extraordinary track is for requests that would generally take more than sixty workdays to process. The Expedited track is for requests that have been granted expedited processing, which are processed as soon as practicable. Within each track, requests are usually processed on a first-in, first-out basis.

Your request falls into the Complex processing track. There are four requests in the Normal processing track and 20 requests in the Complex processing track pending ahead of your request. Because we will need to search for and collect requested records from field facilities or other units that are separate from the office processing the request, we are taking a 10-workday extension under 43 C.F.R. § 2.19<https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-43/subtitle-A/part-2#2.19>. We therefore expect that we will dispatch a determination to you by May 8, 2023.

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We have classified you as a representative of the news media. As such, we may charge you for some of our duplication costs, but we will not charge you for our search or review costs; you also are entitled to up to 100 pages of photocopies (or an equivalent volume) for free. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.39<https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-43/subtitle-A/part-2#2.39>. If, after taking into consideration your fee category entitlements, our processing costs are less than $50.00, we will not bill you because the cost of collection would be greater than the fee collected. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.37(g).<https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-43/subtitle-A/part-2#2.37>

You have agreed to pay up to $200 for the processing of your request. If we find that this will not cover the cost of processing your request, we will stop processing your request at the point this amount has been reached and will let you know before we incur additional charges. You can then either agree to pay the additional amount needed or narrow the scope of your request.

If you have questions, please contact me directly at abby_wines@nps.gov or 760-786-3221.

Sincerely,

/s/ Abigail Wines

Abby Wines
Management Analyst

Cc: Regional FOIA Office, National Park Service Interior Regions 8, 9, 10, 12

"Dear Olive Giner,
This is our final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request assigned Department of the Interior (DOI) tracking number DOI-NPS-2023-003563. Please cite this number in any future communications with our office regarding your request.

Attached to this email is your signed release letter and two responsive records. Please reply with confirmation you have received these documents by April 24, 2023.

Thank you,
Erin Wolff

National Park Service, Interior Regions 8, 9, 10, 12
Freedom of Information Act Office
206-220-4249 Office
253-320-9764 Erin Wolff Cell"