Mendocino County man suspected of killing father

A Mendocino County man was in jail Thursday on suspicion of killing his father last week and then burying him in a grave on the Willits-area property where they both lived, authorities said.

James Presley Whetstone, 29, then waited several days to confess to killing his father, James Andrew Whetstone, 69, who was reported missing to authorities by his daughter on Oct. 10, Mendocino County Sheriff Matthew Kendall said.

The elder Whetstone was last seen at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 9 at his Valley Road home off Hearst Willits Road. His wallet and cellphone were still in the house after his disappearance, Kendall said.

A deputy and a tracking dog revisited the home on Wednesday to see if the dog might be able to track the missing man’s scent to his last location at the property.

“The son basically spoke with one of the deputies and said, ’Can I talk to you in private?’ ” Kendall said, adding that it appeared the younger Whetstone didn’t want to speak to the deputy in front of his mother. “He basically explained that his father had fallen victim to him, and he pointed out an area where his father was buried.”

Deputies got a search warrant for the home and dug up a fresh grave on the property, where they located James Andrew Whetstone’s body, Kendall said.

Deputies suspect he was killed on Oct. 9 sometime after he was last seen, Kendall said.

Authorities were waiting for an autopsy to establish how James Andrew Whetstone died, though deputies did not see any obvious knife or gunshot wounds when they recovered his body, Kendall said.

The younger Whetstone was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on Wednesday night, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s inmate log shows.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.