Staff at the Coroner’s Office have completed an autopsy on Robert Simonian, 74, of Fresno.
His cause of death was determined to be drowning. During the examination, they discovered wounds on Simonian’s arms and legs which are consistent with dog bites. It’s quite possible that a dog or a group of dogs attacked Simonian as he walked along the canal bank and it caused him to fall into the water.
Homicide detectives are asking for anyone in the public who has seen or come in contact with a dog or group of dogs while walking or driving in this area to give them a call immediately. One location to consider is W. Barstow Ave., between N. Biola and N Dickenson Aves. Another location is W. Bullard Ave., between N. Biola and N Dickenson Aves. Detectives would like to know about any encounters folks have had with dogs, regardless of whether they were recent or a long time ago.
On Tuesday, July 5th, deputies who are part of the FSO Dive Team, recovered Simonian’s body in a canal full of water along Barstow Ave., midway between Floyd and Bishop Aves.
On Monday, July 4th at 9:00 am, Simonian left his home on the 10200 block of Barstow Ave. in Fresno to go for a walk as part of his hiking training exercise. He told family members he was going to walk along the canal bank toward Biola and then return home. Simonian never came home and relatives were unable to reach him on his cell phone, so they made a report to the Sheriff’s Office at 12:45 pm that he was missing. Deputies with the FSO Search and Rescue (SAR) team responded and began looking around the area for Simonian. SAR was assisted by patrol deputies, our EAGLE One helicopter and search dogs. Late Monday night, SAR members found shoe tracks near an area of the canal and identified it as a spot where Simonian might have entered the waterway.
Meanwhile, on April 14th, 2016, homicide detectives investigated another case in this same area, on W. Barstow Ave. between Floyd and Bishop Aves. They located the body of Valente Lopez Aguirre, 58, of Kerman. He was lying in the canal as it was dry at the time. The Coroner’s Office determined that Aguirre’s death was caused by an animal attack. During the investigation, detectives found a group of aggressive dogs in the area. They contacted Fresno Humane Animal Services and asked staff to transport the dogs to their shelter. Detectives made requests to have the dogs tested for DNA evidence to see if they had anything to do with the death of Aguirre. Results of the tests were inconclusive and did not show the dogs were responsible for killing Aguirre. Fresno Humane Animal Services later returned the dogs to their owner.
Both of these investigations continue to remain open. Anyone with additional information on either case is asked to call Fresno County Sheriff’s Detective Hector Palma at (559) 600-8204.