Charles Levin, 70, was found dead on July 13 after the actor was reported missing on June 28, shortly after he said he got lost in Cave Junction, Oregon
Scratched, dented and tilted over to one side, its back wheels in the air, this is Seinfeld actor Charles Levin’s orange Fiat car pictured at the remote spot where he died.
Levin, 70, went missing from his home in Grants Pass, Oregon, along with his pet pug Boo-Boo Bear on June 28 and was found dead 30ft down a ravine two weeks later.
Now photos exclusively obtained by DailyMailTV lay bare the extent of the damage to the car which Levin drove for four miles up a disused logging trail before crashing it into a tree stump.
The pictures, which were taken by a local hunter, show how the car came to rest on the edge of the ravine where Levin’s body was found on July 13.
One shows the damage to the passenger side, with a sheared off wing mirror and extensive dents, while another shows the interior of the car with the driver’s seat jolted forward.
In another poignant image, Levin’s blue reading glasses are seen smashed in the mud on the forest floor.
Levin’s orange Fiat car (pictured) was found at the top of the ravine and contained the decomposed body of his pet pug, Boo Boo Bear
Levin’s blue reading glasses were found smashed in the mud on the forest floor
DailyMailTV has obtained exclusive images of his Fiat showing scratches, dents and seen on its side with the driver’s seat jolted forward
The car’s passenger side suffered severe damage with a sheared off wing mirror and extensive dents as it stood nestled in the woods
‘I think he only managed to get up there because the car was small enough to get under the branches,’ Hunter Jes Smith told DailyMailTV
A discarded car lamp bulb and a possible piece of trim is seen near to the exact location where Charles Levin’s Orange Fiat was found at the end of a remote unused logging trail
The corpse of Levin’s pet pug was found inside the car on the floorboard of the passenger seat and was so badly decomposed, the animal had to be identified by its distinctive purple collar.
Hunter and land surveyor Jes Smith, 36, told DailyMailTV: ‘The windows were down and the passenger headlight was stoved in from the crash.
‘I think he only managed to get up there because the car was small enough to get under the branches, although he must have moved some of the trees and logs that were on the road.
Levin’s orange Fiat car was found at the top of the ravine and contained the decomposed body of his pet pug, Boo Boo Bear (pictured), which was only identifiable because the dog was still wearing its purple collar
‘I looked inside [the car] and a lot of his stuff was still in there – I can’t remember exactly what it was. His reading glasses were broken on the ground.
‘The underside of the car was all ripped off from going over logs to get up the track. There was plastic everywhere.’
The orange Fiat was finally removed by authorities a month after the accident, once fallen trees and other debris had been taken away.
But as photos taken by DailyMailTV of the lonely spot show, the clearing still bears the scars of the crash, including deep tire ruts and plastic detritus.
Levin’s naked decomposed corpse was eventually found 30ft away from the car, down a ravine and wedged between trees.
A report released by the Josephine County Department of Public Safety notes that his body bore the marks of animal scavenging, with some of it apparently consumed by vultures.
Rescuers were forced to use a rope and pulley system to remove his remains and he was formally identified via dental records.
His death was later recorded as ‘accidental’ by the medical examiner.
Locals told DailyMailTV the remote trail where Levin died is considered so hazardous, they would think twice before attempting to traverse it.
Smith, who happened upon the car two weeks after Levin’s body was found, said: ‘No local would go up there.
‘I’ve never seen anyone up there in the three years I’ve been using it as a place to go hunting. No one.
‘That track is remote and for anyone who isn’t from around here and who doesn’t know the forest, it’s hazardous.’
The actor had been in the process of moving when he died, swapping his home in Grants Pass for another property in the small mountain town.
Levin is understood to have been looking forward to the move and was being helped by an acquaintance named Julie Hatt who last saw him on the day he vanished.
Hunter and land surveyor Jes Smith, 36, told DailyMailTV, ‘No local would go down there’ as its too dangerous to drive on
Julie Hatt, 58, was the last person to see Levin alive and tells DailyMailTV , ‘He was a really nice guy. He’s always been nice to me and he didn’t deserve this’
This is the exact location where Levin’s Fiat was found at the end of a remote unused logging trail in the hills outside of Selma, Oregon
LEvin’s remains were eventually discovered on July 13 off a remote mountain road so rugged that locals told DailyMailTV they considered it too dangerous to drive on, even in a truck
In an interview with DailyMailTV outside her Grants Pass home, Hatt, 58, said she met Levin through her job at local grocery store Safeway and had become fond of the retired actor.
Hatt, who knew Levin for two years, said: ‘He was a really nice guy. He’s always been nice to me and he didn’t deserve this.’
She also slammed claims that Levin could have been suicidal, telling DailyMailTV that ‘he would never do that. He was happy.’
Instead, Levin is thought to have become lost while attempting to make his way home to Grants Pass from Cave Junction, 30 miles south, via a backroad.
In his final call, made on June 28, the actor told a friend he was lost in the remote countryside around the small Oregon town.
Levin was eventually reported missing by son Jesse, 34, on July 8 – just five days before his corpse was discovered.
The logging trail where he died is more than four miles up a partially graveled track that leads to Deer Creek Road – a mountain road that begins in Selma and ends in Jacksonville, not far from Grants Pass.
The local man who discovered Levin’s body in July told DailyMailTV: ‘It looked like he was trying to take a back route to Grants Pass.
‘But the road he went down was remote and doesn’t have any signs. It’s easy to get lost and GPS doesn’t work.
‘His car was pretty banged up and was off a logging trail. I went up on foot, hiking. I wouldn’t have driven up there by myself, no way. I think he might have made a few bad decisions.’
The actor moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, in 2004 and had a Hollywood career that included appearances in scores of films including Annie Hall and This is Spinal Tap. He also starred in TV series Alice from 1983 onwards and lit up a 1993 episode of Seinfeld (pictured) called The Bris playing a mohel – a person who performs circumcisions
Neighbors living close to his $239,000 rented home in Grants Pass (pictured) described him as ‘a lovely guy’ who was never seen without his pug
The actor moved to Grants Pass in 2004 and had a Hollywood career that included appearances in scores of films including Annie Hall and This is Spinal Tap.
He also starred in TV series Alice from 1983 onwards and lit up a 1993 episode of Seinfeld called The Bris playing a mohel – a person who performs circumcisions.
Despite finding success in the 80s and 90s, Levin’s life appeared to take a downward turn after moving to Oregon with the actor repeatedly getting into trouble with the law – including convictions for drug possession and disorderly conduct.
As a result, he became increasingly estranged from friends and family with one acquaintance telling police that he had ‘no friends at all’ and had fallen out with son Jesse.
