Manhunt for Aaron Bassler Closes Jackson Demonstration State Forest

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According to a Press Release from Cal Fire, parts of Jackson Demonstration State Forest will be closed to the public due to a hunt for an armed and dangerous man. Above is a map of the area.

CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit Chief Christopher P. Rowney has announced the closure of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest at Camp One campgrounds as well as the permitted public firewood area as of August 30, 2011. The campground and firewood cutting area closures are due to ongoing law enforcement activities and to ensure public safety as an armed and dangerous male suspect is being sought in the area. Additionally, the public is urged to keep out of the entire Jackson Demonstration State Forest area north of Highway 20 until further notice. CAL FIRE continues to assist the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office with their search. For the latest on the search and suspect information contact the Sheriff’s Office.

More can be read here at the Press Democrat. A better map can be found here (pdf).

Another mugshot of Aaron Bassler from his arrests in Florida. (incorrect)

Meandwhile, KMUD and KZYX are reporting that Mendicino County Sheriff spokesperson Capt. Smallcomb confirmed that Bassler carved bunkers in hillsides  and had sniper nests.

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Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago

I’m confused. According to his record at the Florida link he is supposed to be in jail there:

Initial Receipt Date: 4/20/2011
Current Facility: WAKULLA ANNEX
Current Custody: MINIMUM
Current Release Date: 10/10/2012

Nick Wilson
Guest
12 years ago

I too thought the Florida Aaron Bassler was the same guy, but not so. The FL guy is Aaron Lee Bassler, has a wife and kid, is 5’6″ tall, with a birth date of 1-13-82, making him 29 now. He is in prison in FL. The FB guy is 6 ft. tall. and 35 years old. There is a surprising resemblance, but apparently not the same guy. The photo you posted above is from the FL guy arrest in 2003, when he was 21. The FB Aaron Bassler lost his truck and drivers license after he crashed the truck in FB last Feb. His father told the PD and UDJ that he no longer drives or has access to a vehicle.

Nick Wilson
Guest
12 years ago

I too thought the Florida Aaron Bassler was the same guy, but not so. The FL guy is Aaron Lee Bassler, has a wife and kid, is 5’6″ tall, with a birth date of 1-13-82, making him 29 now. He is in prison in FL. The FB guy is 6 ft. tall. and 35 years old. There is a surprising resemblance, but apparently not the same guy. The photo you posted above is from the FL guy arrest in 2003, when he was 21. The FB Aaron Bassler lost his truck and drivers license after he crashed the truck in FB last Feb. His father told the PD and UDJ that he no longer drives or has access to a vehicle.

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago

Another bit of conflicting info:
Kmud reported tonight that Bassler is 6ft tall and has brown hair. But on his Florida rap sheet he’s listed:
Hair Color: BLONDE OR STRAWBERRY
Height: 5′ 5″ (1.65 m)

Anne on a Mouse
Guest
Anne on a Mouse
12 years ago

Another bit of conflicting info:
Kmud reported tonight that Bassler is 6ft tall and has brown hair. But on his Florida rap sheet he’s listed:
Hair Color: BLONDE OR STRAWBERRY
Height: 5′ 5″ (1.65 m)

Staff
Member
12 years ago

Thanks, everyone. I had at first thought he wasn’t the same guy but then a major news org. said it was and I decided I was wrong. Now I can’t even find the news reference. I appreciate your help. I’ll put up his wanted poster soon (Thanks to KMUD for sending it to me.)

Starla Strong
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  Staff

I believe the info came from Facebook.

Staff
Member
12 years ago

Thanks, everyone. I had at first thought he wasn’t the same guy but then a major news org. said it was and I decided I was wrong. Now I can’t even find the news reference. I appreciate your help. I’ll put up his wanted poster soon (Thanks to KMUD for sending it to me.)

Starla Strong
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  Staff

I believe the info came from Facebook.

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

I wonder if Bassler has anything to with the 2004 Jenner double murder. A couple was shot to death with a high power rifle while camping on the beach. This murder is unsolved and has similarities with the two recent shootings which Bassler is wanted for: High power rifle, no apparent motive, remote location. Bassler has lived in Ft. Bragg all his life and was known to go to the Bay Area frequently, which means he would have driven through Jenner if he took Hwy 1. There is also another unsolved murder of a geology student who was shot on a Westport beach about 10 years ago.

Despite the fact that Bassler is being called a “transient” by the police, he was born and raised in Ft. Bragg. His parents and grandparents live in Ft. Bragg. He graduated from Ft. Bragg HIgh in 1994. His senior quote was: “Better to go out with a bang than a wimper”. Bassler’s plans after high school was to Join the Army. Classmates remember him as a loner. Although his father says he was “normal” until age 19, classmates say that he was always strange.

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

I wonder if Bassler has anything to with the 2004 Jenner double murder. A couple was shot to death with a high power rifle while camping on the beach. This murder is unsolved and has similarities with the two recent shootings which Bassler is wanted for: High power rifle, no apparent motive, remote location. Bassler has lived in Ft. Bragg all his life and was known to go to the Bay Area frequently, which means he would have driven through Jenner if he took Hwy 1. There is also another unsolved murder of a geology student who was shot on a Westport beach about 10 years ago.

Despite the fact that Bassler is being called a “transient” by the police, he was born and raised in Ft. Bragg. His parents and grandparents live in Ft. Bragg. He graduated from Ft. Bragg HIgh in 1994. His senior quote was: “Better to go out with a bang than a wimper”. Bassler’s plans after high school was to Join the Army. Classmates remember him as a loner. Although his father says he was “normal” until age 19, classmates say that he was always strange.

Michael R. Ross
Guest
Michael R. Ross
12 years ago

The couple near Jenner were shot with a Marlin model 1894 rifle in .44 magnum. Marlin uses a distinctive multi-groove rifling and this is the only model rifle they made in .44 magnum. Perhaps someone knows if Mr. Bassler had one of these rifles. If I remember correctly, the geology grad student was shot with a .22/

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

Michael – Do you know of any web links to the geology student murder? I can’t find anything online about that. Thanks

Michael R. Ross
Guest
Michael R. Ross
12 years ago

The couple near Jenner were shot with a Marlin model 1894 rifle in .44 magnum. Marlin uses a distinctive multi-groove rifling and this is the only model rifle they made in .44 magnum. Perhaps someone knows if Mr. Bassler had one of these rifles. If I remember correctly, the geology grad student was shot with a .22/

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

Michael – Do you know of any web links to the geology student murder? I can’t find anything online about that. Thanks

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

Bassler is more then likely the guy who killed this couple for a few reasons. Some people have placed Bassler in the Jenner area at the time of this double murder of a young couple camped on the beach that I think is in Sonoma County. The fact a rifle was used and there was no known motive fits Bassler as well. Further the killer, if my memory seves me correctly, left behind some odd drawings. This fits Bassler to a T and to me, suggests a serial killer who is responsible for a number of murders. Again, the question will be who was enabling Bassler and supplying him with guns and what did the family know and when, as the facts come out, that Bassler was knowingly dropped off by his mom in the area of the Coleman murder with a rifle, and she didn’t report it to the Sheriff, this case is starting to look like there is too many ” coincidents” invloving people who knew or should have known what this guy was up to. Then not to report it?

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

Bassler is more then likely the guy who killed this couple for a few reasons. Some people have placed Bassler in the Jenner area at the time of this double murder of a young couple camped on the beach that I think is in Sonoma County. The fact a rifle was used and there was no known motive fits Bassler as well. Further the killer, if my memory seves me correctly, left behind some odd drawings. This fits Bassler to a T and to me, suggests a serial killer who is responsible for a number of murders. Again, the question will be who was enabling Bassler and supplying him with guns and what did the family know and when, as the facts come out, that Bassler was knowingly dropped off by his mom in the area of the Coleman murder with a rifle, and she didn’t report it to the Sheriff, this case is starting to look like there is too many ” coincidents” invloving people who knew or should have known what this guy was up to. Then not to report it?

Mendolocal
Guest
Mendolocal
12 years ago

Regarding links to the Jenner double murder, here are a few more pieces of information: Bassler was known to once have had a “large gun collection” which he recently sold. He is obviously into the “Rambo” thing and knows guns and rifles well enough. I am sure LE would be trying to track down the guns he sold and see if he owned an 1894 Marlin .44 rifle like the one used in Jenner. “Strange drawings”: There were strange drawings at the Jenner site carved into driftwood. Bassler left strange drawings in the fake bombs he tossed into the Chinese Embassy in 2009 and his family saws there were also strange drawings carved into the walls of the cabin he used to live in. Jenner is exaclty halfway between Ft. Bragg and San Francisco, making it a perfect place for Bassler to camp when making trips to the Bay. Third thing: It was speculated that a motive for the Jenner killings is that the beach had some type of spiritual significance to the killer. This sounds similiar to what Bassler’s father says may have been a motive for the Matt Coleman murder: that the Cape Vizcaino area of Rockport was somewhere that Aaron went to contact aleins or something similiar……..way to many coincidences here to be overlooked. I don’t know why LE says they don’t consider Bassler a suspect for the Jenner killings. Bassler seems like to classic serial killer type, when you really look at his life.

Mendolocal
Guest
Mendolocal
12 years ago

Regarding links to the Jenner double murder, here are a few more pieces of information: Bassler was known to once have had a “large gun collection” which he recently sold. He is obviously into the “Rambo” thing and knows guns and rifles well enough. I am sure LE would be trying to track down the guns he sold and see if he owned an 1894 Marlin .44 rifle like the one used in Jenner. “Strange drawings”: There were strange drawings at the Jenner site carved into driftwood. Bassler left strange drawings in the fake bombs he tossed into the Chinese Embassy in 2009 and his family saws there were also strange drawings carved into the walls of the cabin he used to live in. Jenner is exaclty halfway between Ft. Bragg and San Francisco, making it a perfect place for Bassler to camp when making trips to the Bay. Third thing: It was speculated that a motive for the Jenner killings is that the beach had some type of spiritual significance to the killer. This sounds similiar to what Bassler’s father says may have been a motive for the Matt Coleman murder: that the Cape Vizcaino area of Rockport was somewhere that Aaron went to contact aleins or something similiar……..way to many coincidences here to be overlooked. I don’t know why LE says they don’t consider Bassler a suspect for the Jenner killings. Bassler seems like to classic serial killer type, when you really look at his life.

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

In this crime at Jenner, common sense points directly at Bassler as suspect number 1, and as this happened in 2004 it proves this killer has been active for years which in itself would indicate he killed a number of people and will be found responsible for many unsolved cases. The Jenner case has DNA which they have been trying to match to various suspects without a match. I don’t think Bassler’s DNA was ever collected yet or it is in progress or will be soon. I think Bassler is a predator and like an animal he kills when someone or something invades what he considered his territtory wherever that might of been at the time. Bassler was being enabled by persons supplying him with the means to become the animal he is and then there is the drug fueled psychosis he poured into his system continuously until we have the drugged, armed, killer that is like hunting an animal that is rabid.

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

In this crime at Jenner, common sense points directly at Bassler as suspect number 1, and as this happened in 2004 it proves this killer has been active for years which in itself would indicate he killed a number of people and will be found responsible for many unsolved cases. The Jenner case has DNA which they have been trying to match to various suspects without a match. I don’t think Bassler’s DNA was ever collected yet or it is in progress or will be soon. I think Bassler is a predator and like an animal he kills when someone or something invades what he considered his territtory wherever that might of been at the time. Bassler was being enabled by persons supplying him with the means to become the animal he is and then there is the drug fueled psychosis he poured into his system continuously until we have the drugged, armed, killer that is like hunting an animal that is rabid.

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

—>Aaron James Bassler’s grandfather, Newton James Bassler, died on AUGUST 14, 2004. The day before the Jenner murders. His grandfather lived in Ukiah.

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

—>Aaron James Bassler’s grandfather, Newton James Bassler, died on AUGUST 14, 2004. The day before the Jenner murders. His grandfather lived in Ukiah.

Kim
Guest
Kim
12 years ago

The authorities have already dismissed Aaron as a suspect in the Jenner murders. In fact, they have a viable suspect who they have linked to that crime. They have yet to prove that he committed the FB murders, as well, so let’s withhold judgement until the evidence is processed.

Kim
Guest
Kim
12 years ago

The authorities have already dismissed Aaron as a suspect in the Jenner murders. In fact, they have a viable suspect who they have linked to that crime. They have yet to prove that he committed the FB murders, as well, so let’s withhold judgement until the evidence is processed.