Couple with dead body in car arrested for child endangerment

August 17, 2017

 

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested the man and woman who were found with a dead body inside their SUV in Cayucos. However, it remains unclear how the deceased person died and how his body ended up in the vehicle.

Darwin Keith Alaskari, 59, and his wife Sherrie Lynn Boggess, 50, are in San Luis Obispo County Jail on child endangerment and other unrelated charges. The couple, whom sheriff’s officials describe as transients from the Bakersfield area, were traveling in an SUV with their 13-year-old daughter and the decaying body.

Shortly before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, deputies were patrolling Cayucos when they noticed the SUV parked in the wrong direction in the 100 block of F Street. The deputies spoke with the occupants of the vehicle and noticed a strong odor coming from the back of the SUV.

The deputies found the body and a death investigation ensued. The preliminary investigation indicates the deceased person was a longtime acquaintance of the Bakersfield couple, according to the sheriff’s office.

Investigators say both Alaskari and Boggess have ties to the local area, but it is not yet known why they were in Cayucos. Deputies arrested Alaskari and Boggess for felony child endangerment and misdemeanor warrants. Child Welfare Services took custody of their teen.

Alaskari and Boggess placed their daughter in a dangerous situation, being that she was in close proximity to decomposing human remains, a sheriff’s office press release states. Also, illegal narcotics and paraphernalia were readily accessible to the teen, according to the sheriff’s office.

Coroner’s officials conducted an autopsy on Wednesday. An investigation into the case is ongoing.

Both Alaskari and Boggess remain in custody, as of Thursday morning. Alaskari’s bail is set at $105,000, while Boggess remains in jail with bail set at $150,000.