Former skydiving champ killed in accident in Lake Elsinore, CA

LAKE ELSINORE, CA -- A former national champion skydiver has died after his parachute failed to open during a weekend accident at Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, Calif.

Richard Alvin Schindler, an off-duty Riverside County sheriff's deputy, died Saturday. The 39-year-old had a back-up parachute, but there was no indication it had been deployed.

A Marine Corps veteran, Schindler began skydiving 15 years ago and had been working part-time at SkyDive Elsinore as an instructor.

At the 2005 U.S. National Skydiving Championships, Schindler was part of the Elsinore Equinox team that finished in first place in the four-way intermediate freestyle competition.

In northeast Missouri, officials are investigating the death of another skydiver. A man's body was found Saturday night in a field in Bowling Green, about 80 miles north of St. Louis.