The Region - News from Dec. 15, 1986

A hunter was killed and three of his companions were injured when their pickup truck skidded off a dirt road on Santa Catalina Island and crashed down a 140-foot embankment. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Billy Joe Maness, 46, of Lakewood was pronounced dead at the scene, which was in the Middle Ranch area of the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, near the Isthmus. Two other hunters, Ken McGregor, 64, of Lakewood and Robert Cook, 40, of Cerritos, and their guide, Todd Beatty, 21, of Two Harbors were taken by helicopter to St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, where they were in fair condition. Deputies said Maness was riding in the bed of the truck, which overturned and crushed him as it went down the embankment. They said the hunt was sanctioned by the conservancy and the driver of the truck was not cited.