Emergency responders in Salem were first alerted Jan. 7 that a Dodge Dynamax motorhome was found parked and running at the Dent County Commons with a tube connecting its tailpipe into the interior of the vehicle. Upon investigators entering the motorhome, Dale Gabrovic, 64, was found dead inside lying next to the mummified remains of Judy Mulkey, 72.
Over the following weeks Gabrovic’s death was confirmed a suicide resulting from carbon monoxide poisoning. What killed Mulkey has remained mysterious.
Family members of both individuals have not returned messages from The Salem News requesting interviews. The details included in this report are based on files released to The Salem News from the Dent County Sheriff’s Office and Dent County Coroner’s Office, as well as public records and interviews with those who worked the case.
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What has been learned is Gabrovic and Mulkey departed California for what would be their last road trip on Oct. 1, 2019. They were married two weeks later in Texas. Over the next three months the motorhome traveled more than 13,000 miles crisscrossing the country before its last stop at the Dent County Commons.
Investigators have faced many questions in the wake of Gabrovic and Mulkey being found dead. They include how Mulkey died, where her death occurred and the reason it wasn’t reported. Others arising from the case are why Gabrovic seemingly drove for weeks with a dead body in his motorhome and ultimately why he picked Salem for his suicide.
The Tomb
Since Jan. 7, the Dodge Dynamax motorhome in which Gabrovic and Mulkey were found dead has remained impounded at Whitaker Auto Body south of Salem. Surviving family members have declined to take possession of the vehicle. Nor have they claimed the personal items which remain inside.
Jimmy Whitaker, owner of Whitaker Auto Body, says he is in the process of formally acquiring legal ownership of the motorhome. He says the vehicle has been a haunting presence for weeks.
“There are so many questions I wish would be answered about this case,” Whitaker says. “When I come to work each day and see that camper, it’s like looking at an unsolved puzzle.”
At the request of The Salem News, the Dent County Sheriff’s Office permitted access into the motorhome so evidence inside could be reviewed, catalogued and analyzed. Hundreds of different items remain within the vehicle, ranging from boxes of legal documents, note pads filled with personal writings, clothing, electronics and other personal items.
The Salem News located the following pieces of evidence inside the motorhome:
• A box of civil court records concerning Gabrovic’s divorce from a previous marriage and custody of a daughter was found. It contains judge’s orders, depositions, printed email communications and correspondence with several attorneys. The thousands of pages were kept in dozens of files stored under the motorhome’s bed. Many of the records are covered in Gabrovic’s hand-written notes. One, a file labeled “Research,” contains a paper detailing brainwashing methods.
• A message signed by Mulkey was found on a folded piece of paper as if carried in a pocket. It states in full, “Sometimes when Dale and I are in public places I make it look like he is mistreating me or emotionally abusing me. Actually, we are having a good time and nothing is wrong! My purpose for writing this is to explain that nothing is wrong and to keep you from thinking I’m being abused. Dale is a good man and wouldn’t do that. I just act childish sometimes.”
• Another message seemingly written by Mulkey on a Post-It Note was found by the front passenger seat. It states, “I know you have my best interests at heart. I will listen to you and trust you to do what you say. I will validate your feelings and share mine.”
• Multiple pictures were found of an unsigned note which states, “I have a problem admitting that I am wrong and with lying. When I am confronted with it, I get defensive and angry instead of admitting I’m wrong, apologizing and changing. Instead I argue and get the other person angry. I fear that I will be looked at as a liar and a bad person so I try to make myself look right instead of admitting I’m wrong and apologizing. I am too prideful and need to behave in a godly manner.”
• Several legal pads were found filled with Gabrovic’s religious meditations and notes on Christianity. Like the Rev. Powell flyer mentioned in last week’s story, they also reference Micah 6:8 from the Bible. That verse states: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
• Financial records indicate Mulkey wrote Gabrovic checks worth thousands of dollars.
• Seven different cell phones were found in the motorhome, one of which was located wrapped in tinfoil and stuffed into a cupboard. Two external hard drives were found which had either never been used or were deleted of any information.
• An undated three-page letter from Gabrovic to Mulkey states in part, “We are struggling so much Judy. You know this without me telling you. We don’t seem to try to do anything about it though. I feel like you may have given up on us and me. It seems that when I try to make you aware of things that confuse me and hurt me that they just keep happening. I feel myself beginning to believe that you are taking advantage of the insight that I am giving you to frustrate me. I know this wouldn’t make sense in a loving, caring relationship, but I can’t deny that I am feeling it.”
The Last Ride
One of the defining mysteries of the Mulkey and Gabrovic deaths is how the two came to arrive in Salem, as well as where and when Mulkey died. The narrowest estimate provided by a forensic anthropologist was Mulkey passed away between three to nine weeks before she was discovered Jan. 7.
The motorhome’s daily camper’s log provides the most comprehensive piece of evidence as to the motorhome’s travel. It documents the couple’s trips, lodging and activities with hand-written notes and dated receipts.
The log’s first entries date back to 2013 and appear to have been written by Mulkey to record visits with friends, family and grandchildren. Beginning in 2016, Gabrovic becomes the log’s primary writer. He typically wrote entries in block lettering while Mulkey used cursive.
Gabrovic used the pages like the captain’s log of a ship to detail the motorhome’s mileage, gas usage and maintenance while also foregoing personal reflections to instead document the behavior and appearance of clerks and store employees he patronized. Gabrovic analyzed others with notes recording minute interactions, tattoos and other matters of appearance as well as questions of why passersby behaved certain ways.
The daily log reports Gabrovic and Mulkey began what would be their final road trip on Oct. 1, 2019, after residing at the Snug Harbor resort outside of Sacramento, California, where they’d apparently stayed since April 22, 2019. Over the following 99 days the daily log reports the motorhome traveled at least 13,240 miles before arriving in Salem, or equivalent to halfway around the globe.
From Oct. 1, Gabrovic and Mulkey traveled through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and into Texas. On Oct. 9, they arrived in Port Aransas where they checked into an RV park. They were married six days later in Corpus Christi. That wedding ceremony is the last instance Mulkey is known to have been seen alive.
The daily log’s last mentions of Mulkey are made Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, while the motorhome headed east across Texas. The Oct. 6 entry states, “Judy not acting tonite.” The final Oct. 7 mention is only “Judy - fun.”
Mulkey is not named in Gabrovic’s Oct. 15 log entry, and the only mention of their marriage is simply, “got married.”
Receipts tucked into the pages of the daily log show Gabrovic paid to stay at the Port Aransas RV park for two months until Dec. 9. However, the log reports the motorhome departed Texas early on Oct. 31.
Receipts show the motorhome drove through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa over the next three days to arrive Nov. 3 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Gabrovic paid to stay at a campground there for one week, however, after staying less than 24 hours he again departed early. The motorhome then headed southeast through Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee to at least as far east as Blountville on Nov. 13 near the Tennessee/Virginia border. It then double backed and drove west into Arkansas and Oklahoma.
On Nov. 19, somewhere between El Reno and Tonkawa, Oklahoma, Gabrovic wrote “talked to prospective employer Sunshine Village about poss. maintenance position.” He afterward kept driving west through New Mexico.
On Nov. 29, Gabrovic wrote “Prayed + Reflected + Saw Anew” on the back of that day’s log entry. The next day he reached as far west as Flagstaff, Arizona, before again doubling back. Log entries show the motorhome then heading east into New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri.
Dent County Deputy Coroner Ben Pursifull reports during his investigation Gabrovic’s brother told him Gabrovic alone visited his Illinois home for an hour in early December, and they crossed paths again Dec. 10 in a nearby Lowe’s parking lot. Pursifull says Mulkey was not seen or discussed during these conversations.
A Dec. 13 receipt shows Gabrovic next checked into a one-night stay at a campground near Mount Vernon, Illinois. Its owner reports to The Salem News it appears Gabrovic wrote “1” on the number of adults line of the camp’s registration form before crossing it out and instead writing a “2.”
Gabrovic then drove to Kentucky to begin a four-day stay at a campground near Paducah. Its staff report Gabrovic wasn’t seen with a woman, and he paid for each night individually one after another. For the first three nights he provided no answer on the registration sheet as to the number of adults in his party. On the fourth night, Dec. 17, he wrote in a “1.”
On Dec. 18, the motorhome departed Kentucky and arrived two days later at a campground outside Nashville. It stayed four days. Staff at that campground report they didn’t see Gabrovic with a woman, and he again paid for his stay one day at a time.
On Dec. 23, the motorhome was in Alabama. Three days later Gabrovic paid to have alignment work done on the motorhome at a body shop in Andalusia, Alabama. Its staff report not seeing Gabrovic with a woman nor detecting a foul odor or anything suspicious after driving the motorhome onto the body shop’s skids.
From Alabama, the motorhome reentered Arkansas on Dec. 30. It was next in Marion, Illinois, for a one-night stay at a campground. It was then at a campground near Danville, Missouri, on Jan. 3, 2020. The final receipt shows Gabrovic paid for fuel Jan. 5 at a gas station in New Florence, Missouri. He and the motorhome then checked into Salem’s Dent County Commons the night of Jan. 6. Gabrovic and Mulkey were found dead the next day.
The Unknown
At the request of The Salem News, the Dent County Sheriff’s Office provided a copy of Gabrovic’s suicide note. It provides no answers as to when, where or how Mulkey died; nor Gabrovic’s motivation for not reporting her death.
The Gabrovic suicide note states in full: “Since Judy died I have been traveling in our RV trying to find the right place and way to end everything without causing our families and others more pain than necessary. Going from attempted suicide to driving from police stations only to become concerned about how it would effect everyone involved.
“Judy and I are very dependent upon each other. In trying to understand since Judy’s passing it appears that we may have been in a codependent relationship, as well as from what some others have said in the past also. I don’t know how else to explain, other than we were hurting each other emotionally. We should have found help. I should have made sure we found help.
“With the way our society is, I realize that it is hard to let things pass quietly. Please keep Judy in the best light possible. While her and I had our struggles, she was the best of people. And while I have always tried to help others during my life, I have never learned how to express myself well or tactfully. I have tended to say too much or try too hard to help. I would much rather the focus not be on Judy if at all possible. Please forgive me for taking so long to do this.”
Deputy Coroner Pursifull reports Mulkey’s final days remain the case’s biggest unknown.
“When I rule a death, I figure out the cause and then I figure out the manner,” Pursifull says. “The cause of death is usually pretty specific. For example, if somebody has heart disease it may be ruled as myocardial infarction. However, with this one, even with knowing about her heart disease, there is enough evidence inside that camper about their past for me to think it was suspicious, and there is enough evidence for me to think it was natural.”
As for the manner of Mulkey’s death, Pursifull says he has five options to choose from: homicide, suicide, accidental, natural or undetermined.
“This case has to be ruled undetermined because I don’t have enough evidence to point one way or another. Unfortunately, unknown cause of death and unknown manner is what I will sign her death certificate as,” Pursifull says. “I don’t like having unknowns out there. My job is very matter of fact. I deal in cause and manner of death. His case is done, I know the cause and manner. But in her case, I’ve never had a cause I couldn’t determine.”
The Dent County Sheriff’s Office reports its case file on the deaths of Gabrovic and Mulkey is closed as it cannot be determined if or when a murder occurred, nor where it would have happened. Investigators were also unable to ascertain a local connection to either Salem or the surrounding area.
Pursifull concludes he’ll continue to question what actually happened in the motorhome. The truth may never be known.
“One part of being a coroner is you get to help people find closure and close that last chapter of someone’s life,” Pursifull says. “Sometimes we do that in a positive way, and sometimes it comes in a negative way. This time we are not able to, and that is after using every resource available to us; from forensic anthropology, to forensic odontology, to a medical examiner’s office and toxicology testing. Ultimately, we cannot determine anything 100 percent. I can speculate, but that does no one any good. I give firm, honest answers, and I just can’t do it this time. Unfortunately, this case is going to be one where there will always be questions we won’t be able to answer.”
