UPDATED: Highway 154 Head-On Kills DA Investigator

Why? Why? Why?
Why do people continue to drink and drive? My heart goes out to Sgt. Cleaves and his family. Words cannot express the sorrow that I feel for him and ALL of her loved ones.

May god bless her and may she rest peacefully.

I will always have fond memories of you smiling while teaching lessons during Pony Club. Rest in peace, Laura.

Where was the other driver coming from?

My heart is aching tonight for Laura and her family. I am one of the adoptive parents who suffered because of the illegal, unethical and immoral practices of the adoption agency Adoption International Program owned by Orson Mozes and Christen Brown of Santa Barbara. Laura Cleaves was the investigator handling this very complex case and her dedication and professionalism have touched our lives. Even during a most difficult emotional time in her personal life our case was always with her. I know this as I received an email she sent to me in NY at 1:55am Thursday morning which would have been 9:55 pm California time. This email is probably some of the last words she wrote before her death at 1130pm.
Even at this late hour and after experiencing with her daughter a personal loss, our case was still a priority for her. I am sad I will never get to sit in a courtroom with her and hug her for caring. I am sad for her daughter who grieves a double loss, and her husband who loses his wife and collegue and friend. I am sad for her family whom I do not know and all of the people who's life I just know she touched.
While I am miles away and never met Laura face to face she touched my heart in a way I will never forget. May God's love and strength surround Laura's family at this most difficult time and I pray they know the people she served with such dedication and profesionalism are keeping them in our prayers.
Ann Young NY

Like Ann, I am one of the victims of AIP Adoption Scam run by Orson Mozes and his wife, Christen Brown, of Santa Barbara. When we contacted Laura last year to share our story she listened with empathy and due to her efforts and determination...one year later she charged Orson Mozes with 62 felony charges on behalf of the many AIP victims she interviewed. We all have tremendous respect for her and admired her commitment and dedication to this case.

We will always remember her with admiration and gratitude. We pray for her family at this tragic time.

Dawn De Lorenzo
Woodbridge, NJ

Livingsb asks: "Why? Why? Why?
Why do people continue to drink and drive?"

Good question. In part, because we live in an area that glorifies alchohol. Downtown S.B. is a continuum of bars, and the Santa Ynez Valley is into all its "wine tasting" haute culture. Either way, alcohol kills brain cells, destroys the liver, makes people aggressive and stupid, and results in countless deaths such as this one.

Apparently people just can't live without their booze and they are so addicted to it that they are willing to play russian roulette with the lives of people who dare to share the road with them.

It's a great habit isn't it?

Laura was my sister.

Laura and I didn't see eye to eye in the last ten years, but I want to talk to you about this from a perspective of family.

Laura was commited to improving the community. She was insightful, she was funny. She was an expert role model to anyone who would listen.

She was a caring wife to her children, and she was cherished by Steve.

Laura's relationship with him is one of the rare few of true and absolute trust.

Her commitment to the people of the community was above anything I have ever seen in another person.

Tonite I am at a loss for more words. I am angry. I am sad. I am stricken by the irony.

Few people you will meet in your life who will ever change their community as Laura changed her's. Because very few have the heart, and the determination.

I can not think of a word for the tormented soul who caused this to happen. Right now, I can't see her as anything more than a monster who robbed the world of a truly meaningful person.

Laura was a rare kind. And the world is diminished by her departure.

And I am diminished by the loss of my eldest sister.

As another AIP/Orson Mozes victim I found comfort knowing that Laura was there working so hard to bring this man to justice for what he had done to so many of us. I never met Laura personally but she has deeply touched my life. I will never forget her and her dedication to justice. It is such a horrible tragedy...words are so inadequate. My heart goes out to her family and I pray for their comfort and peace. I hope you realize that Laura meant so much to so many of us. People that she never met are grieving...what a tribute to a wonderful woman.
Barb Pingree NY

This is another classic example of the perils of driving on our feared 154. However careful one may be some useless and destructive drunk can and will get you. This tragic woman has probably commuted safely on this road for years only to lose her valuable and productive life to this selfish and mindless individual. This driver who has deprived a woman of her right to live her life out and her family decades of her continued cherished presence was involved in two consecutive collisions, one fatal. Hopefully she will receive little mercy in the courts of Law. One can only imagine the feelings of the officer's when they arrested her after seeing the spouse of their co- worker's life so violently and senselessly destroyed.

She was at the Maverick- people tried to take her keys away- guess they didn't try hard enough. Those same people called the CHP. They should have tried harder. I'll bet they feel horrible.....

So sad, and so preventable.

billclausen partially answers the question as to Why, Why, Why? Additionally the purveyors of alcohol, their attorneys, their lobbyists, and the various state legislatures have conspired to place this type of crime into the category of manslaughter rather than Murder One. Unfortunately a drunk in an automobile receives preferential treatment as opposed to a drunk with a firearm. Over the years the laws have tightened but there is still not parity.

I am deeply saddened at hearing the news of this tragedy. I have known Steve and Laura for at least 30 years. I had worked with Laura over numerous years until I moved to Willows and found her to be a friend. Her compassion regarding victims, tenacity in pursuit of those committing criminal offenses, and completeness of her work were only a cornerstone of her persona . Devoted to family, friends and community her zeal for a better community enriched everyone that ever had the opportunity to work with and know her.

The Law enforcement profession and the community overall have sustained an immeasurable loss with Laura’s passing. Law Enforcement and the entire community will suffer from this catastrophic occurrence for numerous years.

To Steve and the Cleaves family, I can not with words appropriately express to you the deepness to the slightest degree of my sorrow in your loss. The words to convey to you the heart felt loss are very hard to properly address the degree and magnitude of loosing Laura. I can only thank you for sharing this wonderful and caring person with the rest of us.

God Bless

William Spears/Chief of Police/City of Willows

Julia J. Di Sieno
Executive Director
Animal Rescue Team, inc
www.animalrescueteam.net

A TRIBUTE TO LAURA

DON’T CRY FOR THE HORSES

Don’t cry for the horses that life has set free
A million white horses forever to be
Don’t cry for the horses now in Gods hands,
As they dance and they prance in a heavenly band.

They were ours as a gift, but never to keep,
As they close their eyes forever to sleep,
Their spirits unbound, on silver wings they fly,
A million white horses against a blue sky,

Look up into heaven; you’ll see them above,
The horses we’ve lost the horses we loved.
Manes and tails flowing they gallop through time,
They were never yours, they were never mine,

Don’t cry for the horses, they’ll be back someday.
When our time is gone, they will show us the way.
Do you hear that soft nicker? Close to your ear?
Don’t cry for the horses, love the ones that are here!
---------

Thank you Laura from all the horses you saved and the lives that you touched. : YOU WILL BE MISSED!!!!!!!