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Man killed in front of wife in Menlo Park

by Sandy Brundage

Early Saturday evening, gunshots left a dead man in their wake on Ivy Drive in Menlo Park. His wife survived.

The man was identified as Carey Cudlip, 42, of Newark, according to the San Mateo County Coroner's Office.

Around 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, police responded to reports of gunshots in the 300 block of Ivy Drive and found the man lying in the street. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Witnesses saw two men in dark, hooded sweatshirts running away, police said. One reportedly fled north on Ivy Drive, while the other headed west on Modoc Avenue.

Investigators think the victim was shot while sitting with his wife "in or near" a car.

Cmdr. Dave Bertini said it was too early to comment on motive. "We're still doing a lot of footwork ... trying to figure out why these people were here, what's their connection to the area, forensics."

He called reports that police have concluded the shooting happened during a robbery "inaccurate," although the preliminary investigation suggests the couple was targeted for that reason.

"We're still following a ton of leads," Cmdr. Bertini said on Nov. 19.

The shooting was the latest in a spate of apparently unrelated incidents in the city's Belle Haven neighborhood during the past six months. A drive-by shooting injured four near Ivy Drive and Windermere Avenue on Nov. 2. In June an incident on Madera Avenue left 19-year-old Jesus Molina dead.

Police ask anyone with information to call the Menlo Park Police Department at 330-6300.