Missing Dinuba man found dead

FRESNO – A missing Dinuba man was found dead of an apparent traffic accident Wednesday morning, two days after his family reported him missing to Fresno County authorities.

The body of 24-year-old Matthew Delbert Trimble was discovered in very steep terrain approximately 100 feet down a pass on Highway 180, three miles west of the Hume Lake turnoff, according to a press release from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department.

Search and rescue personnel retrieved his body from the deep trough around 10:30 a.m. There was no word on the exact cause of death, though authorities are investigating it as a traffic-related incident.

Trimble departed his Dinuba home aboard a black and silver Kawasaki 250 Enduro motorcycle early Monday morning to go fishing at Hume Lake, authorities said. He was alone.

According to Fresno County sheriff’s spokesman Chris Curtice, Trimble was expected to return home to his family later that day.

“When he failed to return, family members contacted the sheriff’s office,” Curtice said. “The sheriff’s office’s helicopter ‘Eagle One’ responded at first light (Tuesday) morning to search the Highway 180 corridor, but there was no sign of Trimble.”

At the time, the only information authorities had regarding Trimble’s whereabouts came from a gas station purchase made Monday morning with Trimble’s debit card.

Authorities believe Trimble stopped at the Valero gas station located on Hopewell Avenue and Highway 180, which is on the way to the Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park and east of the Fresno suburb of Squaw Valley. Authorities believe that Trimble was crossing the entrance to the national park at approximately 8:30 a.m. Monday. That was the last he was seen or heard from.