Legislature character ‘Ambassador Merlin’ found dead in Carson City

Friday, July 20, 2001 | 9:14 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- "Ambassador Merlin," one of those colorful characters who attach themselves to the Nevada Legislature, has been found dead near Mound House, about 10 miles east of Carson City.

"He was the strangest guy I have ever known," said lobbyist George Flint, an acquaintance of Merlin, whose real name was David V. Solomon. "Everything revolved around his relationship to outer space. He believed he was an ambassador from another constellation."

Authorities in Lyon County said Solomon's body was discovered Friday on Kit Kat Road, near the Carson River. The cause of death has not been determined, and Solomon had apparently been dead for a number of days. Identification was made Wednesday through fingerprints.

In recent years, Merlin, 52, was a familiar figure in the Legislature, telling people he was from outer space, and he was married to an alien. He was among those who backed naming the highway near Rachel in Southern Nevada, the "Extraterrestrial Highway."

He lived out of his 1976 Monte Carlo, but the vehicle has not been found.

Assemblyman Bob Price, D-North Las Vegas, was one of those Merlin made friends with. "I am very sad," Price said when told of the death. "Merlin was a very smart young man. But, yes he was a little weird," Price said.

Merlin was barred from the Legislature in 1999 when he was accused of exposing himself in the men's restroom when a female janitor entered.

Price said he believed Merlin's parents lived in California.

Flint, who represents the Nevada Brothel Association, said Merlin "loved to hang out around the Kit Kat," a bordello near where his body was found. But he was surprised the car was not found.

Once Merlin went to Washington, D.C., and lobbied Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both Nevada Democrats, said Flint.

No funeral arrangements have been announced.