CHATSWORTH, Dec. 16 – The skeletal remains of what investigators believe is Donald “Shorty” Shea — slain in 1969 by Charles Manson and two of his followers — was found Thursday afternoon in a shallow grave along Santa Susana Pass Road, about five miles east of Simi Valley.

Sgt. Bill Gleason and Deputy Barry Jones of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department found the bones at 2:20 p.m. Gleason has been a chief investigator on the case since Shea’s murder in October 1969.

In 1972, Manson, Steve Grogan and Bruce Davis, were convicted of Shea’s murder, but the file will not be closed until the body is determined to be Shea’s. Investigators from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office will compare Shea’s dental records with the skeleton to make a determination.

The body was complete and intact, negating rumors after the murder that Shea was decapitated and saturated in quicklime, which would have partially decomposed the skeleton.

The bones were found about 100 feet down an embankment, below Spahn Ranch, where Manson and his followers lived in 1969.

Shea was stabbed in his side and dumped in a hole, Gleason believes.

“Those (decapitation) stories were told by Manson family members to strike fear and keep others (potential witnesses) from talking,” he said.

While deputies were waiting for coroner investigators to arrive and excavate the skeleton, news photographers wandered within inches of the body. Camera motor-drives zipped and strobes lit up the area.

Gleason, who was among investigators digging in the area eight years ago — and several times since — appeared to relish what appears to be the final end of the case.

“Get some good ones,” he shouted to the photographers. “That’s the closest you’re ever going to get to a crime scene.”

The body was lying face up, arms by the side. Nothing remained but clay-stained bones. The skeleton was not that of a tall man.

To bring the body out, Jones and John Mosbrucker, a deputy coroner investigator, laid white cloth strips across the skeleton before slowly moving it into a large clear-plastic bag.

Television cameras filmed the recovery. About 50 feet away, across the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, about 10 silent youths watched the investigators and newsmen.

Gleason says he is pretty certain the bones are Shea’s. Acting on a tip, deputies began to dig in the area, just below Spahn Ranch about six weeks ago. They had been digging for four weeks before the discovery.

Gleason wouldn’t identify who the tip came from, saying he had to protect his source. But he was confident.

“At this point, we can’t confirm this is Shorty Shea,” he said, just before diggers had exhumed the body. “We suspect it is.”

Gleason has Shea’s military records, and expects to close the file on Shorty Shea today or tomorrow. The discovery is important, he said, because “now we’re able to close out his case.”

When the Manson family lived in the Spahn Ranch area, Shea worked for an adjoining landowner. It was Shea’s job to keep people out of the area. He was a “thorn in the side” of the Manson family, according to Gleason.

About a week before Shea was murdered, deputies pulled a surprise raid on the Spahn Ranch, and Shea was blamed by Manson for fingering the family. But, he had nothing to do with the raid, Gleason says.

All three men convicted of Shea’s murder are serving life sentences in state prisons

By HAL DeKEYSER