Agoura Hills man dies in Mulholland Highway crash
By Stephanie Bertholdo  bertholdo@theacorn.com

Jonathan Richard Varble, an Agoura Hills man who was reported missing by his family early Sunday morning, was found dead in his car Tuesday evening around 8:30 p.m.

Varble, 24, apparently drove his car off a 50-foot embankment off Mulholland Highway east of Stokes Canyon Road and hit a tree.

According to Sgt. John Lago of the California Highway Patrol's West Valley Division, Varble was driving a 2006 Infiniti G-30 and wearing his seat belt when the crash occurred.

"He died immediately upon impact," Lago said. Foul play was ruled out and authorities have classified Varble's death as a fatal accident.

"It seems like he was traveling westbound on Malibu Canyon approaching Stokes Canyon at an unknown speed," Lago said. "For unknown reasons he ran off the runway and struck a tree."

Within hours of Varble's disappearance, family members organized an extensive private search party, including a helicopter search of the canyons, Lago said. Varble reportedly left Bogie's nightclub at the Westlake Village Inn around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday and planned to go to his girlfriend's house, located off Lost Hills Road. Varble called his friend on his cellphone between 2 and 2:30 a.m. and said he would arrive at her home within five minutes, said a friend of the family who wished to remain anonymous.

"He never made it there," she said.

Lago said it was unknown whether Varble had been intoxicated when he left the nightclub.

Varble was the only son of Aileen Locke of Agoura Hills and Rick Varble, a Thousand Oaks resident.

"What I do know is from all the outpouring of his friends and people who were close to him he was very well loved," said Jeff Cutler, who works with Locke.