Death of longtime Mesa resident found in camper still under investigation
The preliminary autopsy results for a 54-year-old Mesa man found he suffered from coronary artery disease but it’s unclear if that’s why he died.
A Cowlitz County forensic pathologist discovered signs of the heart disease during an autopsy on Friday, but hasn’t confirmed that the medical condition caused Robert Chervenell’s death last week, Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary said.
McGary and detectives are waiting for blood tests before making a ruling on whether his death was from natural causes.
The autopsy also didn’t find any signs that Chervenell was wounded before his death.
Coronary artery disease is the most common form of heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s caused by a buildup of cholesterol and other substances in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. For some people, the first sign of the disease is a heart attack.
Sheriff’s deputies are continuing to investigate the death, Commander Marcus Conner said. They treat any unattended death like it could be a homicide until it can be ruled out.
Detectives have been investigating Chervenell’s death since Sept. 27 when a friend discovered his body inside a trailer on a vacant lot on First Avenue across from the Mesa Post Office.
Chervenell was a fixture in the small farming community of about 490 people in northern Franklin County, Conner said.
He lived a hard life, but people frequently looked in on him to make sure he was doing OK.
“He was a decent guy,” Conner said.
Chervenell’s sister Chiloe Chervenell is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for the slaying of his sister-in-law Kathy Chervenell-Brinson in August 2022.
After years of threats and domestic violence, Chervenell-Brinson was killed by Chiloe Chervenell and her body left under a pile of junk on the porch of her Mesa home.
According to reports, Robert Chervenell often watched the couple’s children and was at the house when his sister-in-law’s body was discovered.