The Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station community this week remembered the anniversary of the death of Reserve Deputy Charles Dudley Rea.
On Jan. 26, 1969, during an El Niño storm, Rea drowned in Big Tujunga Creek. Rea served as a member of the Montrose Search and Rescue team working out of Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station. He and fellow team members were making their way toward 30 people stranded in the La Paloma Flats area above Montrose when the tragic accident claimed his life.
Reserve Deputy Rea lived in La Crescenta. He was 35.