David Grubbs, a 23-year-old grocery store employee, was discovered dead on a bike route in southern Oregon shortly after 5:30 p.m. on November 19, 2011.
His death was especially horrible.
Police think the Ashland High School graduate was struck many times in the head and neck with a “large sharp-edged object,” resulting in near-decapitation as he walked home from his job at Shop ‘n’ Kart.
“We know that it wasn’t a robbery because his wallet and the beer he bought when he got off work were still there,” says Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara. “It just appears to have been a random thing.”
The incident on a popular bicycling track near an elementary school startled the little city of Ashland, which has a population of about 21,000.
“We don’t get a lot of murders here, generally like one every seven years,” O’Meara says. “And for this person, who was, as far as we know, just walking home from work in the dark on a well-used bike route when he was attacked and had his head severed, what caused that? So, we don’t know. And the fact that it appears to be absolutely random adds to everyone’s fear, which is entirely understandable.”
O’Meara was the patrol supervisor on duty the night of the assault.
“I remember it was snowing that day,” he said. “When we went out there, it was pitch black. Someone may have operated in nearly full darkness. And it’s possible that David had no idea someone was following him.”
Grubbs’ horrible murder is still unsolved 14 years later.
“David was not somebody to have enemies,” he insists. “He was cheerful and approachable, and everyone enjoyed working with him at the grocery shop. He was universally liked. That’s one of the issues with this case. It does not lend itself to providing us with investigative threads to pull on. Even when the detective in charge at the time took it to the FBI’s behavioral analysis team and they looked at it, they stated, “We don’t really have anything for you.” This is such an unusual aspect of a murder investigation.”
Over the years, detectives have interviewed hundreds of people, but no arrests have occurred.
“There are people that have bragged to their friends that they’ve done this,” he recalls. “I remember investigating some people that were overheard at a party bragging that they did it, but it turns out they take credit for every murder that happens in Jackson County because they think it makes them look tough or something.”
Authorities have offered a $21,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of his killer.
“I never refer to it as a cold case or a closed case, because I want everybody to understand that to the actual police department, it remains open and active as much as the circumstances allow the detectives to work on it,” according to O’Meara. “And I have been very deliberate with his family and anybody else that asks that it’s not cold or closed, it’s open and active and very important to everybody here.”
O’Meara is still hopeful that the lawsuit will be resolved one day.
“I very much want to believe that,” he’s saying. “Someone out there knows something, and carrying that load around for 14 years must be really exhausting. And, if you’re the type of person who knows something that will help us bring healing to the community and the family, you can give us that information anonymously and take it off your shoulders.”
