Free Republic

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Federal authorities tried to determine whether a clergyman awaiting trial on charges of raping two teenage sisters fell, jumped or was pushed when he plunged 400 feet to his death in Sequoia National Park. The Rev. Santos Teixeira, 54, plunged from a 1,500-foot granite dome known as Moro Rock, landing on a ledge. His body was discovered after one of his parishioners reported the death, said park spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet. The death happened on Sunday under "uncertain circumstances" and on federal land, so the FBI was called in to join the National Park Service investigation. "The...

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - A Porterville minister accused of sexual abusing two teenage parishioners fell 400 feet to his death at Moro Rock, a National Park Service official said Monday. The Rev. Santos Teixeira's fall Sunday was under "uncertain circumstances," requiring the Park Service to notify the FBI of its investigation, said Alexandra Picavet, a Sequoia National Park spokeswoman. Picavet said park investigators have yet to determine the manner of death and cautioned it was standard procedure to notify the FBI about the case, which occurred on federal land. Teixeira, 56, fell to his death late Monday afternoon from...