Sally Menke, longtime film editor for Quentin Tarantino, found dead near Griffith Park [Updated]

Director Quentin Tarantino's longtime film editor, who went hiking with her dog amid the extreme heat Monday, was discovered dead early Tuesday morning by searchers in Bronson Canyon, according to law-enforcement sources.

[Updated at 1:59 p.m.: An earlier version mistakenly said she was found in Beachwood Canyon.]

Award-winning film editor Sally Menke, 56, worked on such movies as "Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill" and "Jackie Brown."

[Updated at 7:49 a.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly listed Menke's age as 53.]

Menke had gone hiking in the morning, and her friends alerted police after she failed to come home.

Search dogs, an LAPD helicopter and officers from patrol units spent hours in Griffith Park searching for her.

Her locked car was found in a Griffith Park parking lot. Menke's dog was found alive, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because the investigation was ongoing, said Menke's body was found at the bottom of a ravine near 5600 block of Green Oak Drive.

No cause of death was immediately reported, and it's unclear whether the heat was a factor.

[Updated at 8:42 a.m.: LAPD Lt. Bob Binder said Menke and a hiking buddy set out about 9 a.m. to hike a trail in Bronson Canyon, in the shadows of the Hollywood sign. An hour later, Menke's partner decided to turn back. Menke and her Labrador retriever continued on.

That was the last time she was reported seen. Friends and family contacted authorities about 4 p.m.

First on the scene were officers with the city's General Services Department, which patrols the park. Searchers with the LAPD Metro Division and Los Angeles Fire Department were called in around 6 p.m. Her family and friends aided in the search.

Menke's body was found just after 2 a.m. at the bottom of a ravine near the 5600 block of Green Oak Drive in Bronson Canyon.

Her dog was sitting next to her body, which was about a football field's length from nearby homes.

Ed Winter, assistant chief of the L.A. County coroner's office, said there did not appear to be a jump in deaths Monday because of the extreme heat.

Sources familiar with the death investigation believe Menke became disoriented and collapsed, and the weather conditions contributed to her death. Winter said the coroner's office is trying to determine whether the heat played a role in Menke's death.]

-- Andrew Blankstein

Photos: The scene at the end of Green Oak Drive, where the body of Sally Menke was placed in the coroner's truck. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times. Below left, Sally Menke Credit: WireImage

Comments

[Gracie]

That's how old my mum is...scary to think about. It's very sad but sweet that her dog was sitting with her when she died. Poor thing. I hope this isn't a murder, that would be just awful.

[T]

I have worked every summer in Fresno and Kern counties on ranches in the summers. Always some weeks when the temperatures are over 115. You go out before sunrise and come back in at ten. Then you sleep for a while. People take siestas for a reason. It's not just to relax. You only go back out around four or later. Plenty of water and a hat and a light cloth that's damp on your neck. I usually freeze a water bottle and take it and let it thaw in my pocket.

[Cristina Gray]

I think she was just tired of her life. She's at the age despite her successful career.

[bob]

Another arrogant industry type that thought she was more powerful than nature but ended up being more foolish than anything.
Now she's dead.

[John Gotti]

The HOTEST day since 1878, and Einstein goes Hiking. Oh that is so Hollywood......................

[Lynn]

People should not judge others prematurely without knowing all the facts. It's sad a family will be grieving for a wife and mother now. I'm glad to hear her loyal friend was by her side and she did not die alone.

[Isidore]

A lot of these remarks are in questionable taste. The cause of death will be determined in due course. Meantime, it seems appropriate to mourn the death of a good human being who also happened to be talented rather than to try to be superior to an award-winning film-maker because you know when to go hiking and when not to. Anyway, a lot of this is 20-20 hindsight. When she went hiking she may have known it was hot, but not that it would be record-breakingly hot.

This is a tragic loss and Sally Menke will be missed.

[Leandro Lefa]

People, easy! To say she's arrogant industry type for hiking in the morning, or that she's dumb not to know that heat can kill is so very stupid.

Why go on the internet just to say to the world you are stupid and not have anything better to do with your time?

Leave her and her family in peace. Even after investigation points out the COD.

RIP, Sally.

[Heisenberg]

This is very tragic. She was an amazing talent!

Neat that her dog was sitting by her side. . .

[ncmason]

Nice.Sally was my aunt.Thank some of you for remembering that her sister,husband,children,and other family members read these posts.Thank you for your empathy,sympathy,and sensitivity when our family has experienced so much death in the past two years with the passing of my father, her brother in law, and both of her parents.On behalf of the family I thank you.

[cazare sulina]

Very interesting story

[cristian burculet]

Nice , very well done editor

[jon]

what a shame.

[Cheap Tiffany jewelry]

Very beautiful sentences,I believed that the content is very touching, but I also felt strongly that should use their. He opposed charity, instead to provide that would allow to help them.

[Dana Wheeler Nicholson]

"a chance to shine in such a male dominated field as editing"

I thought film-editing was actually one of the few female-dominated fields?

[MagicalMindz]

My most sincere condolences to the family of this gifted lady. Perhaps my experience with heat is typical. I grew up in New York and found myself out West via Europe, the Middle East and Africa. I know something about heat after over 60 years but for whatever reason I merely tolerated rather than respected it. I'm also an avid dog walker as I rescue them and often have many to walk. In some places you feel the brick oven heat instantly and dive for the air conditioning(Middle East, Gulf States, Arabian Peninsula, Africa). The people deal effectively with heat and one learns to copy them. Out West in the USA the heat sneaks up on you as the day progresses and we often don't notice until it's too late. I have made careless mistakes in the heat while preoccupied with so many other of life's demands. One leaves home feeling energetic, lost in thought, intrigued by a place they have wanted to get a better look at and maybe a rare extra 30 minutes to do it. Fortunately I have never made a big mistake wandering the desert but enough small ones to know that the frog in the pot of boiling water scenario can equally apply to distracted humans. My husband is an Ultra Runner and adores the heat. He often warned me to carry electrolytes as I staggered in the door with a blasting headache, feeling shakey, disoriented, nauseated and weak.

As I aged and spent more time outdoors with my dogs and horses I saw how dangerous and rapid dehydration could be. It happens very quickly and impacts our bodies long before we feel thirsty. I have almost collapsed a few times in my determination to finish "one last thing" down at the barn. Of course one can have a heart attack or stroke at any age too. Our perishable bodies are just a place for our spirits to reside for awhile. Nevertheless, these episodes left me severely chastened. I finally listened and began to carry water with electrolytes. Frankly, it probably has saved my life more often than I care to believe. It's not that people are "stupid" so much as we can have a bad day, we're a bit clumsy at times or careless. Who hasn't had a moment of inattention or made a small mistake only to realize it could have killed them. And who is to say why our lives come to a halt prematurely when they do sometimes? We are just human and our bodies more vulnerable than we wish to realize. Accidents, or any sort of sudden demise can happen to anyone. My sympathy to the family. May Sally's spirit hover nearby to comfort you.

[Tisha Matthews]

Griffith Park is a very popular park to hike. If she stayed on the trail, how was she not found until 2am. From 9am to 2am, other people jogging, hiking, ect would had found her!! Something sounds fishy about this!

Some killings were going on a few years back in Griffith Park, I hope they are not starting again!!!

[Matt]

The picture has been edited in a strange way. I just checked the location on Google Street View, and because it is the end of a dead-end street, there actually is a big sign reading "END" there! But not in the article's picture. Did they regarded it (the "END") as "too macabre"?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=5600+Green+Oak+Drive,+Los+Angeles,+CA,+United+States&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.059939,56.513672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=5600+Green+Oak+Dr,+Los+Angeles,+California+90068&ll=34.120649,-118.310193&spn=0.008171,0.021973&z=16&layer=c&cbll=34.119615,-118.310642&panoid=2KPbYdhPCi5godzzagGAgQ&cbp=12,77.78,,0,0