Batavia PD says two people found dead in cemetery were struck by lightning

UPDATED at 5:50 p.m.

While the cause of death has yet to be determined, two people who were found dead in the Batavia Cemetery (not St. Joe's as previously reported) were stuck by lightning, a medical examiner has determined.

The deceased are identified as Richard Garlock, 34, and Jenna Macleod, 32.

Batavia PD was dispatched to the cemetery at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, to check on two people who were found deceased in the cemetery.

Both Garlock and Macleod are people who are familiar to police, but investigators are not really sure why they might have been in a back corner of the Batavia Cemetery at 2:30 a.m. during a lightning storm.

"(They could have been there) to watch the storm roll in and they got hit by lightning," Det. Todd Crossett said. "It's probably that simple. It really could be. It was a spectacular storm. The lightning was just incredible."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has technology that 95 percent of the time can detect a lightning strike within 600 feet of the exact location where it contacted the ground. 

NOAA has confirmed a lightning strike in the area of the Batavia Cemetery during Wednesday morning's storm.

The Erie County ME determined Garlock and Macleod had injuries consistent with being struck by lightning. 

They were found under a large tree.

"A fence wasn’t too far away," Crossett said. "I’ve seen where fence gets struck, but there’s a root underground. It will travel through the root and pop up someplace else.  Underneath the tree, there are lots of roots that come to the surface, so the tree could have got struck, traveled down the tree, came up through a root and they got the electricity that way. It could have been that, or they could have taken a direct hit. With all that, I don’t think we’ll know how it actually happened. All we can say is, they did get hit with lightning."

There are no burn marks on the tree or other objects. There are also no signs of trauma, though the victims did have some injuries investigators came to believe were consistent with a lightning strike.

There is also no visible evidence, such as paraphernalia in the area, of drug use, though early in the investigation detectives did look into that possibility.

“Why else would you be in the back corner of the cemetery?" Crossett said. "Why is that? I can tell you the detectives who were there and the lead investigator who was there, we were completely open (to any possibility). We didn't rule anything out and we didn't rule anything in."

The cause of death is pending while the Erie County M.E. completes a toxicology report, which could take up to two months.