Residents and Tourists Unfazed by Spreckels Death

Two days after police and firefighters were led to the dead body of Rebecca Zahau, Coronado residents and tourists appeared largely undisturbed, despite multiple unanswered questions about just how she died.

Though only a wide stretch of beach separates them from the Spreckels mansion, many tourists staying at the famed were unaware of what happened Wednesday.

News trucks still lined the 1000 block of Ocean Boulevard, but there seemed to be little activity Friday at the Spreckels house, owned by Arizona pharmaceuticals mogul Jonah Shacknai, who was Zahau's boyfriend.

A security guard inside the house occasionally shooed people off the property.

Investigators spent 24 hours at the oceanfront mansion after Adam Shacknai, Jonah's brother, found Zahau, 32, naked, bound and suspended from a second-floor balcony early Wednesday.

Detectives have yet to announce how the victim died or formally decide if they are pursuing a homicide investigation or a more routine death inquiry. They have named no suspects and said the Shacknai brothers are being treated as witnesses.

In stores and cafes, at the historic hotel or on the community's famed beaches, residents and tourists discussed the case Thursday and Friday, but with little sense of alarm or concern.

Kimberly Macgregor, who lives in North County, didn’t let Wednesday’s events prevent her from coming to Coronado with her great-aunt, Harriet Gregory. She said although Zahau's death was sad, she wasn’t worried about crime in Coronado.

“It happens everywhere,” Macgregor said.

Employees at the Hotel Del said a handful of guests have asked about the case, but only out of curiosity, not fear. Most people just have been enjoying the summer and beach.

“I haven’t had anyone from the Shores say anything and they live right there,” hotel employee April Githoff said, of the nearby condominium complex.

Laura Frank, a checker at and a Coronado native, said most people coming in the store didn’t have much to say about Zahau's death. “I was surprised,” she said. “I thought everybody would be talking about it, but only a few people mentioned it.”

It was different at Café Madrid, the coffee cart in front of , where customers were abuzz about the suspicious death, according to barista Jason West.

“Everybody had a theory,” he said.

Buffy Hergenrader, a retired teacher, saw the tragedy as a wake-up call. “We get complacent in Coronado,” she said. “This community is not as safe as I’ve led myself to believe.”

Jack Durning, a customer at , a popular pub, has strolled along Ocean Boulevard and enjoyed glancing at the Spreckels mansion.

 “I used to walk my dog by that place and think that I really would like to live in a place like that, but now I’m glad I don’t,” he said.

Alex Tiedeman didn’t think the death would harm the community's reputation as a top vacation spot.

“I suppose it doesn’t look good,” said the three-year resident. “But I don’t think it will hurt tourism.”

West feels people need to look past the wealth of the victim's boyfriend and the couple's status as part-time residents of Coronado.

“When someone’s life is lost, it doesn’t matter where they are from or how much money they have,” he said. “It’s still a tragedy.”