The remains of a 45-year-old Hemet man who vanished while bicycling on a remote stretch south of Hemet were finally located, at the bottom of a steep embankment, where the victim apparently rolled after losing control of his bike on a curve, suffering fatal injuries, authorities said Friday.
Brian Darrell Grangaard is believed to have died on May 25, the same day he was reported missing by family members, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The agency said a Riverside County sheriff’s patrol unit involved in a search-and-rescue operation mounted to scour the area around Vista Del Valle and Rawlings Road, in a community known as Santa Rosa Hills, spotted the body shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday at the bottom of the slope, underneath some brush.
“Sheriff’s deputies learned from family members that Mr. Grangaard was last seen riding his mountain bike on Vista Del Valle, which is a mountainous road with numerous curves,” CHP Officer Matthew Napier. “At the scene, physical evidence indicated that the rider was traveling at a high rate of speed and was unable to safely negotiate the sweeping curve before he and his bicycle left the roadway.”
CHP officers, who were summoned to investigate because it happened on an unincorporated county road, which is under the agency’s jurisdiction, determined that neither alcohol nor drugs were likely factors in the crash.
Napier said the investigation remains open and anyone with information was asked to call the CHP’s San Gorgonio Office at 951-769-2000.