The State - News from July 3, 1986

Two Lancaster residents who died in a suicide plunge into Arizona’s Grand Canyon in a pickup truck last weekend were wanted in California on sexual abuse charges, authorities said. Richard McMillan, 50, and Laura Lynn Allen, 30, died Sunday in what police said was a suicide plunge off the south rim of the canyon. Detective Alex Sandoval of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said warrants were issued last Friday accusing McMillan and Allen of molesting Allen’s 9-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. Authorities said McMillan drove Allen’s pickup off the road and deliberately dodged trees to reach the canyon’s edge and plunge 350 to 500 feet. The incident occurred just east of Grand Canyon Village, the canyon’s principal tourist center.