Hunt for Clovis double-murder suspect heads to Central Coast town of Cambria

Clovis police investigators, with help from multiple law enforcement agencies on the Central Coast, continue to focus on the area around Cambria in their search for Dave Thomas McCann, who is suspected in the slaying of his estranged wife and her mother.

Chief Matt Basgall said Tuesday that police received at least two reports of sightings of McCann on Monday in Cambria, the popular San Luis Obispo County vacation town.

Involved in the hunt for McCann are the sheriff’s offices in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, as well as the Paso Robles Police Department. Police dogs and a regional SWAT team are part of the effort.

Basgall, in a news conference called Tuesday afternoon in Clovis, said investigators believe McCann has ditched a stolen mountain bike that he was initially thought to be riding and is now on foot. He may be hiding on area beaches or in the surrounding woods, Basgall said. Between six and 10 investigators from Clovis have been part of the search.

Police believe McCann stabbed his ex-wife Tierney Cooper-McCann, 36, and her mother, Judith Cooper, 68, whose bodies were found early Saturday on the 700 block of West Omaha Avenue in Clovis.

The Fresno County Coroner’s Office reported that Cooper was from Paso Robles. A 16-foot-long Penske moving truck that McCann was believed to have been driving was recovered Saturday night in the Paso Robles business district, and police there also recovered video footage of McCann in the city.

Basgall said the 6-foot-2, 220-pound McCann, 49, is believed to be wearing dark clothing and is disheveled after living on the run.

Basgall said he is “pretty optimistic” that police are closing in on the suspect, but at the same time, he warned everyone on the Central Coast to be on the lookout for the fugitive.

Tony Cipolla, a spokesman for the San Luis County Sheriff’s Office, said that in addition to sightings of McCann in the Cambria area, there was a caller reporting seeing the fugitive in the Los Osos area, which is near Morro Bay and south of Cambria. But Basgall discounted the possibility of McCann in that area.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Hunt for Clovis double-murder suspect heads to Central Coast town of Cambria."