Travel Inn Drowning Ruled Suicide

Foul play is not suspected in the death of a Murrieta woman whose body was found in the swimming pool last Thanksgiving.

Twenty-six-year-old Nicole Lambert Cruz’s cause of death has been but the manner of her death has been listed as suicide, according to Sgt. Joe Borja of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Cruz did have amphetamines in her system, but not enough to cause death, the sergeant said, noting that intoxication may have aided in the suicide.

According to the deceased's mother, Lambert Cruz was living with her grandfather in Murrieta when she went missing November 19. “She left for a walk and never came back,” said Donna Lambert.

The Lambert family had been in the media spotlight prior to Thanksgiving for their staunch support of the medical marijuana movement.

Donna Lambert’s elderly father Don, who Nicole lived with, had been a fixture at Murrieta City Hall where he regularly advocated on behalf of medical marijuana patients. Don took up the cause after his daughter Donna was arrested in 2009 for marijuana possession in San Diego County.

Her case garnered significant media attention. She was accused of providing cannabis to an undercover police detective who posed as a medical marijuana patient. The sting was part of a larger investigation dubbed Operation Green Rx spearheaded by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

In 2010, however, felony charges against Donna Lambert were dismissed.

NOTE: The beautiful photos and captions were submitted by Nicole Lambert Cruz's family.