This page was created by Jon Mikelonis as a commitment to the life of my son Leonardo "Leo" Mikelonis (18). Here I discuss my thoughts on "conscience" in our contemporary age. What you read within is an unfortunate but necessary exposé resulting from a year long private search for clarity about the minutes preceding Leo's drowning and the nearly two hours that passed before authorities were notified. A father's patient and civilized quest for clarity that was met with only evasion and disregard by Plumas County Law Enforcement and little to no cooperation from witnesses.
Embedded Files
"I think of the Universe. I think of how extreme it is, how old it is, how big it is, and how little I am in it. Just a speck, a speck in size and a speck in time. I listen to coyotes outside, reminding me that there is life, specks of life in the Universe. I am one of them for the tiniest fraction of time. I have this time, this chance to do something, be something great. I can't waste this time I have because next thing I know it'll all be over and I may never be great." - journal entry by Leo dated December 30, 2019 (age 13)
Leo, his Junior year at Spanish Springs High School, leads the varsity Cross Country team to the Regional Championship finishing 9th overall and 1st for his team in order to qualify for the State Title meet. This day he sensed his superior teammates were not performing to their standard. The team was at risk of not qualifying. He found the way.
Witnessing my second start-up business failing in 2016, Leo located "the part" that accelerated the next business in 2019. Today, Truckee Surplus ships over 10,000lbs of alike items each year. Every part we ship is in Leo's honor. Every customer is informed of his story and of the evasive figures who have chosen to act above the law.
After two failed attempts, Leo summits Mt. Shasta solo in October 2024, just three months before his life was suddenly cut short. Since then, I have made the attempt myself walking in his exact footsteps. An incredibly challenging and spiritual mountain. I have yet to summit but like him have committed to return in his spirit.
Leo, his Senior year at Spanish Springs High School, was voted Team Captain retroactively after the team captured the Nevada State Title for the 2023/2024 school year. His inspirational team talks, commitment, and long term objective to be a champion required approaching Cross Country as a team sport.
Conscience
Character is higher than intellect, is higher than brotherhood, is superior to the social grain. A man's character is formed by his relationship with his conscience, where conscience operates as the innate sense of right and wrong, expressed below the chest and above the abdomen deep within man's nerve center. This divine voice whispers independently of external influence, is unattached to religion, and yields the best result when the internal dialogue is patient, calm, and measured. Character is the cumulative result of the decisions a man makes based on his inner voice. Throughout the cultures of the world this inner voice is considered God's will, I would agree.
Cultivating a lifelong relationship with conscience is the path toward a spiritual life. To silence the conscience based on the titles we hold, our jobs, the day of the week, peer groups, status, our desire for stuff, suggests one can build a partition between their material and spiritual lives. However, to treat the conscience as a switch makes spirituality a losing proposition. To attempt to disengage from your sense of right and wrong because you find it inconvenient is equivalent to saying to yourself, "Please, don't speak to me now God, I'm working today."
When a man chooses to install a lever on his own conscience, powering it off out of fear of consequence, he becomes most vulnerable to someone, some organization, or some system shutting it off for him. For each instance he does this, he creates a pattern, he creates a habit, and finally we lose all sense of the man he was intended to be.
As the switches integrated into our devices and instruments of modernity converge upon body and mind in ever increasing numbers, know that conscience is what makes us uniquely human and acts as the final firewall between God's will and "advancement". Should you choose not to exercise your own conscience by surrendering your authentic self, conscience can atrophy like an unused muscle. If there was ever a time for man to evaluate the degree to which his conscience shapes his character, shapes his spiritual existence, shapes society, shapes humanity, it would be now as the "Gods" of technology seek to perfect their dream, an artificial conscience. A conscience that can be iterated and programmed in order to put us into sleep mode.
Context
On January 28th, 2025 my oldest son Leo left for an impromptu one-day fishing trip with two peers ("Josh" and "Matt") to the Middle Fork of the Feather River in Mabie, California within Plumas County. He was just 18. Sometime between 1:00pm and 1:15pm he went under the ice in a deep but slow moving section of the river. Leo was an alcohol and substance free young man. The coroner's toxicology report confirmed his lifestyle. Regardless of his physical fitness it is assumed he was overcome and drowned in approximately 8 feet of water. Cries for help were claimed to be heard by Josh, but not by Matt on a 45 degree cloudy winter day, with no wind, in a quiet river valley, within an even quieter river.
At the time Leo was attending the University of Nevada Reno under a full academic scholarship, worked at Summit Racing Equipment as well as for my used auto parts business. He was living on his own in our first home in East Sparks. He was a cherished and courteous neighbor. Leo was an avid distance runner having recently captained his High School Cross Country team to the Nevada State Title and a Reno Tahoe Odyssey Ultra Team. Leo was in the midst of a 4 year goal to summit 11 of the volcanic Cascades with his most challenging accomplishment being Mt. Shasta. He reached the summit of Shasta in October 2024 after two previous failed attempts that he considered too dangerous due to conditions.
Exposé (January 28, 2026)
Today, exactly one year since Leo's death, I am formally exposing the Plumas County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office for a deliberate civil rights violation under the California Public Records Act. Unfortunately, you are reading this because I have no choice but to conclude that some public officials only act with conscience when under public scrutiny. A sad but unsurprising reality. My intent is to build awareness and apply pressure on these entities to reconsider their negligence. If you are reading this, I ask you draw your own conclusion. You may treat what you learn here as a call to action, awareness of the world around you, or contemplative reading that evokes deep thought.
Every reasonable attempt has been made for civilized offline cooperation on my part. This is not another impulsive reaction within a social media newsfeed. Waiting one full year to release this information was necessary since the label of "grieving father" has been cast upon me in order to dismiss my effort to find clarity and truth around the events that lead up to my son Leo drowning that January day. While dark clouds have been the norm this past year, so has rational, objective, and level-headed inquiry achieved through my own pre-emptive efforts to endure the inevitable traumas of life, as well as a close circle of those who support me.
It was never my intention or style to make this a public matter. However, those responsible should be revealed to prevent the same violation and casual disregard be cast upon others. Today, January 28, 2026 I stand for my son, my dignity, and anyone else who has felt the oppressive abuse of power upon those who operate with conscience and personal sovereignty. Those whose self-reliant values place them outside nebulous power structures of influence and favor. The same "man in the mirror" values that built our nation, the same values that grind through any economy, the same values that motor regardless of what political party is in office.
I have communicated respectfully with the Plumas County Sheriff and District Attorney with consistency for 4 months and waited an additional 5 months for the delivery of Body Cam Footage for the events of January 28th, 2025, the day Leo drowned under circumstances that would not allow ANY father to rest. My ongoing request included three formal submissions to the Sheriff's Office and escalation to District Attorney's Office. Both Steve Peay (Investigations Sergeant and Chief Deputy Coroner) and David Hollister (District Attorney) are fully aware of the request. The result has been excuses, silence, evasion tactics, and the all-to-familiar "it's not my department" sentiment that demonstrate a casual and seemingly routine assumption that individuals like myself will never step forward out of fear of demonization, exclusion, or impact on sustenance. This is a form of oppression. The contract I hold with my own life advises me to represent myself and face any criticism as I etch my story into the walls of time.
The behavior of the Plumas County Sheriff's Office included the inept and thoughtless decision to provide me still photos and footage of my son's recovery from the river floor on January 29th, 2025, which I attended. Both offices are absolutely clear what footage I have been requesting. Both offices are aware of what footage has not been delivered. Neither office has provided explanation for acting accordingly.
What you read below is not an attack on first responder conduct, law enforcement in general, or an accusation of foul play for those who accompanied my son that fateful day. What is outlined below is an opportunity for the Plumas County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office to act with integrity on this matter by switching their conscience to the "on" position with regard to myself, my son Leo, and the California Public Records Act.
I look at life with a floodlight view and am careful to monitor patterns before drawing conclusions. I am also objective enough to avoid overall character assassination stemming from the behavior of two public figures who might conduct themselves with excellence among those they choose to serve every day. However, I am holding myself accountable for documenting my specific experience in the event the same dismissive behavior has been levied upon or could be levied upon others not capable or willing to speak. Patterns, in my mind, begin with instances of three. I emphasize here and ask the reader to think with the utmost intention. My experience could represent the first, second, third, or twentieth instance of the same or similar violation. I could be sharing an instance that marks the beginning of or contributes to an unethical pattern. Imagine, should nobody step forward under circumstances like my own, the sinister pattern is never revealed and the violators carry on. I stand not only for myself and Leo, but also for you, and especially for the young.
I am acting independently of my remaining family members and I do anticipate scrutiny and misunderstanding. I ask they be left out of this. However, I act with a lifelong ability to endure the consequences of answering the call of my own conscience. This is my obligation to act responsibly, not a shout down from moral high ground. It is my belief that those who do not suppress good conscience are a required element of humanity. At this point of time and under this unfortunate circumstance my voice on this matter is a single demonstration that serves to safeguard us against the germ of tyranny.
Incident Red Flags
My determination for clarity about the events of January 28th, 2025, which begin with the aforementioned Body Cam Footage, require some disclosure regarding what I do know. Otherwise, I cannot expect any member of the public to fully comprehend the degree of neglect perpetrated by the Plumas County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office. Please note I have made the effort to protect the identities of those who accompanied my son on January 28th, 2025 by referring to them as "Josh" and "Matt". I have no public opinion on their decision making months after Leo's drowning and have kept the details that follow only to facts, not speculation or conjecture. The Investigations Sergeant and District Attorney are aware of every detail outlined below.
I re-emphasize, this is NOT a witch hunt or elimination of the possibility of an absolute tragic accident. However, still today, there are more questions than answers surrounding this incident. Unfortunately, the facts below only serve to move my meter from "that's odd" to north of the border of "I deserve to know more".
1) 97 to 108 minutes passed after Josh claimed to hear Leo in distress and Matt called 911
2) Official police report lacks nearly all detail regarding locations and movements of Josh and Matt for this entire 97 to 108 minute period
3) Matt disturbed the incident scene before police arrived by claiming to crawl onto ice to remove Leo's fishing pole from near the "hole in the ice"
4) Police report provides no indication or reference to images that would verify precisely where "the hole in the ice" existed on the river surface
5) Official police report shows no indication that Josh and Matt were interviewed independently
6) A 3 hour and 39 minute period passed from the time Leo was heard in distress and the Mikelonis family was informed he was likely deceased
7) Within 3 months of Leo's death Matt proved to eliminate himself as a credible resource of truth when a pattern of nefarious behavior surfaced
8) My inquiry with the father of Josh to meet and speak collaboratively with Josh regarding the events of January 28, 2025 was denied
Final Thoughts
If you have read this far take a moment to re-read the opening journal entry from Leo at just 13 years old. How clear the voice of divinity can ring within the young. This is a display of conscience in its' purest form, a sample of God's voice providing a young person a sense of meaning and purpose. As the decades of an individual's life become history, it's the cumulative compromise for society's wares, hollow promises, and belonging that can bury the inner voice, substrate upon substrate. Have you lived a life or will you live a life suppressing it for what you perceive is security, comfort, status, and acceptance? Have you allowed yourself to measure every decision based on the material profit or loss of the action? If you stand in amazement when you witness principle lodged within another person, you can believe they have a deep connection to the voice within. For them, it's an ongoing conversation, always. For them, conscience is not a switch.
Contact Me
Constructive thought, inquiry, or information you feel I should know? Text or call (775) 225-9437. Email is ok too.
Take Action
If you are compelled to inform the Plumas County Sheriff's Office that you are aware of this story and their violation of the California Public Records Act (which applies to all citizens of the United States) please email Steve Peay (Plumas County Investigations Sergeant and Chief Deputy Coroner) and reference Leonardo Mikelonis Incident Number 2025000724. Please cc David Hollister (Plumas County District Attorney) should you decide to act.
Thank you,
Jon Mikelonis
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