Richmond man found dead at ski resort died of heart attack
A Richmond man whose body was found at the Bear Valley ski resort two months after he vanished while skiing died of a heart attack that may have caused him to go out of control and fall, Alpine County Sheriff ’s Office officials said last week.
Thomas Mullarkey, 65, of Richmond was found May 14, three weeks after the resort had closed, lying under a patch of snow at the bottom of a rocky cliff next to an advanced ski run known as Groovy Gully.
Spencer Case, the undersheriff of Alpine County, said an autopsy found the cause of death was cardiovascular decompensation, essentially cardiac arrest, but it was not clear whether the long fall had anything to do with it.
“He fell off a pretty significant rock outcropping — approximately 80 feet — and landed on the snow below, and it appears he
didn't move after the fall,” Case said. “I can't say whether the fall came before the cardiovascular event or after.”
Mullarkey, an outdoorsman and longtime Bay Area electrician, was skiing alone without a helmet March 14 and never returned.
His wife, Jane Drummond-Mullarkey, reported him missing that night as a blizzard rolled in. He could not be found despite an intensive search of the entire 1,700-acre ski resort by multiple sheriffs’ departments, the National Ski Patrol, Bay Area Mountain Rescue and the California Office of Emergency Services.
At least 150 people, rescue dogs, ski patrols, aircraft and a private helicopter hired by the family were used in the search, but snow had covered up the body. Mullarkey had left his cell phone in the car, which was found in the parking lot, so searchers could not triangulate the signal and figure out where to search.
“It was like the perfect lineup of bad events — heavy snow, lack of visibility and lack of access where he landed because that is an avalancheprone area,” Case said. “Essentially it was a very unfortunate accident.”
Drummond-Mullarkey said her husband was found partially buried on his back, head down hill with his cap and goggles on, arms open with ski poles in his hands. His left ski was still attached to his boot, and his right ski was next to his body.
She believes the heart attack occurred while he was skiing in heavy powder that snowy day, causing him to lose control and fall off the cliff. He may have already been dead when he landed, she said.
“It doesn't seem like there was any suffering involved, especially the way they found him,” Drummond-Mullarkey said. “One of the ski patrol told me when heart attacks happen on the mountain they happen quick and hard, because of the altitude.”
On May 26, 500 people gathered at Mullarkey’s alma mater, St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, to celebrate his life.