OCEANO, California.

A homeless woman has died of suffocation after being buried by three men on a California beach - a fate her family described as her greatest fear.

Three men were being held on involuntary manslaughter charges in the death Wednesday of 53-year-old Patricia Ann Kalbskopf.

They allegedly poured sand over her while she was passed out drunk at some dunes along the state's central coast.

Investigators say they don't believe the men, who were also drinking, intending to kill Kalbskopf, but their actions resulted in her death.

Kalbskopf's niece, Lisa Cruz, said her aunt's fear of burial was so acute she made her family promise to cremate her after her death. The family plans to honor the request.


CNN.com


I truly hope that this poor woman was so intoxicated that she had no idea what was happening to her. I hope these three jerks pay dearly for what they did.....

A lot of people even when they are sober do not seem to understand that wet sand structures are dangerous to enter and also with dry sand that just having the head exposed does not mean that someone can breathe.

They just do not think of sand as heavy or think about the weight on the chest being a big problem, especially when the cartoon version is always someone buried at the beach with just their head sticking up.

not a nice way to go... I hope that the culprits get what's coming too them...

Manslaughter I imagine.

The sad thing is that about 3 weeks ago I read that this happened to a young boy, about 9 or 10..His friends buried him in the sand, and the poor little one suffocated before anyone could get to him. Young children, especially, should be taught about the dangers of what they think is play.

makes one sick...

That poor woman -- and the fact it was her greatest fear is so much worse. People should know better than to cover a passed out person with sand.

All I have to say is...what the hell is wrong with the world?