TRUCKER FOUND DEAD AT TRUCK STOP

Jackson trucker Don Koeberl is believed to have died in his sleep at a truck stop in Arizona near the New Mexico line.

Koeberl hadn't been heard from since March 11 when he loaded up with produce in Yuma, Ariz.

Apache County sheriff's Sgt. Jim Morris said a deputy opened the door to Koeberl's truck Wednesday morning after employees at the truck stop reported the rig had been parked for several days.

"Based on his log book," Morris said, "he drove straight from Yuma to the Beacon Truck Stop in Lupton. He pulled in there, and we believe he died of natural causes."

Morris said the Beacon Truck Stop is a large, busy area where many trucks come and go at all hours, and where Koeberl parked wasn't easily noticeable by truck stop employees.

"It would be easy to get lost in there for a few days," Morris said of the truck stop.

Koeberl, 47, worked for Five Star Trucking, a produce transportation company based in Cleveland. He typically hauled vegetables from the Southwest to the Midwest.

Tammy Davis, Koeberl's girlfriend for the past six years, is taking a dim view of why it took so long for law enforcement agencies to find him.

"Disappointment is not the word," she said. "All the police stations along the route knew he was missing, but he was parked at a truck stop with 30 or 40 other trucks. Someone should have figured it out."

Davis and Koeberl's sister, Shirley Brown, began blanketing the route with missing posters a few days after they hadn't heard from him.

Five Star Trucking notified the FBI that a load was missing on March 11. Koeberl's manager at the firm said Koeberl had never been late on a run in the seven years he worked for Five Star.

"I knew he was in some kind of trouble," Davis said, "and thought he could be hurt somewhere, but I didn't expect this."

The Apache County Sheriff's Department was arranging an autopsy of Koeberl's body to determine an exact cause of death.

Funeral arrangements haven't been announced.