Man found in vehicle buried in mud died from drowning, coroner says

Oct. 23--A man whose body was found Tuesday inside a car buried by last week's mudslide in Palmdale drowned, coroner's officials said.

Robert Michael Rasmussen's death was ruled an accident, said Ed Winter, spokesman for the L.A. County coroner's office.

Rasmussen, 49, of Palmdale, was found only after residents nudged authorities to look in a 12-foot-deep square hole, where they saw a vehicle disappear last Thursday during a record-breaking rainstorm that swept over the Antelope Valley and eastern Kern County.

The downpour triggered mudslides and flash floods that trapped hundreds of drivers, overwhelmed roads and prompted the closure of a 40-mile stretch of the 5 Freeway.

L.A. County Sheriff's Department crews checked the culvert earlier but did not delve deeply enough.

Then on Tuesday, crews looked again, going deeper into the mud.

Authorities found Rasmussen's hand sticking out of a car. Crews used heavy equipment to dig out the car and recover his body.

No one had heard from Rasmussen for days, said his younger brother, Robert Driscoll.

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Family members called around but never received any information about his whereabouts.

Rasmussen was a father and self-employed painter, his brother said.

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