Dennis W. Day – Charges Filed in Death of Former Mouseketeer
The sad story of former Mouseketeer Dennis W. Day crops up from time to time in the newsfeed. However, in this particular update we have movement toward the case’s terrible conclusion.
Photo: Mail Tribune
The Case of Former Mouseketeer Dennis W. Day
Oregon’s Mail Tribune reported on Friday:
Day, whose body was found in April at his home on Pine Street after a monthslong search, was best known as a Mouseketeer on Walt Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” television series. Day was 76 when he was last seen alive in July 2018.
Dennis W. Day Case Recap
- July 13, 2018: Phoenix police and Jackson County Fire District No. 5 respond to a medical call after Day’s husband, Henry “Ernie” Caswell, reportedly fell several times. Caswell was taken to a nearby hospital and later moved to the Southern Oregon care facility where he still resides.
- July 17, 2018: Phoenix police were told by a boarder living in Day’s house that Day has left to visit friends, and that he’d be back in several days. Phoenix police performed several welfare checks at the residence over the next several weeks.
- July 26, 2018: OSP found Day’s car in Coos County while responding to a domestic disturbance call on Highway 42 near milepost 30. Police found an unnamed man and woman driving the car, impounded it, and cited the woman for driving while suspended.
- July 27, 2018: Phoenix police reported Day as missing in the Law Enforcement Data System and National Crime Information Center databases. They conducted another search of the house, but failed to locate anyone.
- Aug. 8, 2018: Phoenix police received a report of a “bad smell” coming from Day’s home in the 500 block of Pine Street. Officers noted “nothing observed or smelled in the area.”
- Jan. 28, 2019: Phoenix police, Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies and OSP troopers met to discuss the case. The sheriff’s office and OSP each provided a detective to assist in the case.
- April 4, 2019: Phoenix police obtained the use of cadaver dog and located a body in the house. The human remains activated the Jackson County Major Assault Death Investigation Unit, and OSP took over as the lead agency in the investigation.
- June 6, 2019: The Oregon State Medical Examiner identified the body found in the residence as Dennis Day under “strong circumstantial evidence.”
Third Arrest Made In Case
James Burda Mugshot
Recently, the Mail Tribune also posted:
Police arrested a man Friday in the death of Dennis W. Day, a former child actor who lived in Phoenix.
Daniel James Burda, 36, was arrested on a warrant charging him with manslaughter in the death of Day… OSP declined to comment beyond issuing the charges against Burda: second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree abuse of a corpse, criminal mistreatment and identity theft.
Furthermore, this was not Burda’s first arrest; nor was it the first arrest in the case:
Jackson County Jail records show that Burda has been held since June 26 without bail for violating his probation… As of Friday evening, jail records did not yet contain OSP’s new charges.
Burda’s arrest is the third in a case that OSP describes as “still active.”
Last week, OSP and Phoenix police arrested Wanda Diane Garcia, 57, and Lori Ann Declusin, 34, for unlawful use of a vehicle alleging they stole Day’s white 1990s model Ford Escort about a week of after Day was last seen alive. Garcia separately faces a theft charge accusing her of taking a brooch that belonged to Day.
Yeesh. We’ll update as soon as there is more info.
