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CAF091226 December 26, 2009; Angeles Nat. Forest, Los Angeles, CA
Topic Started: Jan 14 2010, 05:36 PM (1,345 Views)
Ell
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Three rings and a gold-colored necklace plucked from the ashes of the Station Fire may help detectives identify the skulls of a man and a woman found around Christmas in a burned-out mountain gulch of the Angeles National Forest.

Homicide detectives released photos of the jewelry on Wednesday, hoping someone will recognize the items.

The pictures show three rings, one with small ruby stones, one with emerald-green stones, and one with black stones, each with interlocking white gems in a gold-colored setting. The fourth piece is a gold-colored chain necklace.

Detectives believe the rings and necklace belonged to one or both of the decedents, sheriff's officials said.

The jewelry is the latest clue to emerge in a mystery that remains unsolved. The skulls were discovered Dec. 24 and Dec. 26 and identified last week as belonging to a man and woman, although their identities haven't been determined.

At least one of the skulls appears to pre-date the Station Fire, which burned 250 square miles of the San Gabriel Mountains in late August and September.

The first skull was found Christmas Eve by hikers in a burned-out draw below the Angeles Forest (N3) Highway, near mile marker 19.36, a sheriff's homicide lieutenant said. The skull had an apparent bullet hole in it.

Deputies from the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station responded to the site that day, said Lt. Paul Becker of the Homicide Bureau.

On Dec. 26, about a dozen forensic specialists, coroner's investigators and homicide detectives returned to dig and sift through dirt, rocks and debris in the gully.
Using soft-bristle, wood-handled brushes to excavate, and metal, wood- framed screens to sift through material, as well as one dog trained at sniffing out human remains, they found the second skull close to where the first was located.

The second skull had signs of trauma, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The gender of each set of remains was determined by examination of other bones collected in the steep, fire-denuded gulch, Coroner's Investigator Jerry McKibben said last week.

The skull with the apparent bullet hole belonged to a man and the second skull belonged to a woman, McKibben said.

Detectives have not said when the rings and necklace were discovered, only that they were found where the skulls and other remains were located.

Homicide investigators urged anyone with information on the bodies to call Detective Philip Guzman or Detective John Duncan at 323-890-5500.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14186338
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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Ell
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http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/...showtopic=16787
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Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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Ell
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Skulls found in Station Fire burned area remain unidentified
Daily News Wire Services
Updated: 01/28/2010 09:42:25 AM PST


Detectives two weeks ago released photos of rings and a necklace found near two skulls in a burned-out gulch of the Angeles National Forest, but the apparent homicide victims remained unidentified today.
Plucked from ashes of the Station Fire but believed to pre-date the massive blaze, the skulls and the jewelry remained an unsolved mystery today, investigators said.

"There has been no identification, by DNA or other means," sheriff's Homicide Lt. Mike Rosson said.

The three rings -- with red, green, and black stones -- appear to fit together but that hasn't shed any light on the investigation, according to Rosson.

The skulls, which belonged to a man and a woman, remained unidentified early today, coroner's Investigator Jerry McKibben said.

The first skull was found Christmas Eve by hikers in a burned-out draw below the Angeles Forest (N3) Highway, near mile marker 19.36, homicide detectives said. The skull had an apparent bullet hole in it.

Deputies from the sheriff's Crescenta Valley Station responded to the site that day and secured the area. The draw is part of the Lucas Creek drainage, which feeds Big Tujunga Canyon.

On Dec. 26, about a dozen forensic specialists, coroner's investigators and homicide detectives returned to dig and sift through dirt, rocks and debris in the gully.

Using soft-bristle brushes to excavate, wood-framed screens to sift through material, and a dog trained at sniffing out human remains, they found the second skull close to where the first was located. The second skull had signs of trauma, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.

The gender of each set of remains was determined by examination of other bones collected in the steep, fire-denuded gulch, McKibben said.

The skull with the apparent bullet hole belonged to a man and the second skull belonged to a woman, McKibben said.

At least one of the skulls was partly burned but they appeared to pre- date the Station Fire, which burned 250 square miles of the Angeles National Forest in August and September.

Detectives have not said when the rings and necklace were discovered, only that they were found where the skulls and other remains were located.

Rosson urged anyone with information to call Detective Philip Guzman or Detective John Duncan at 323-890-5500.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14285915
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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tatertot
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http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/a-mu...-ashes/19397201

A Mystery Rises From California Ashes
Updated: 52 minutes ago
Scott Martelle
Contributor

AOL News LOS ANGELES (March 17) -- It began on Christmas Eve, when a couple of hikers decided to traipse through a section of the massive Angeles National Forest that had burned bare a few weeks earlier in the 160,000-acre Station Fire. Moving down a steep ravine, deep into the forest, the hikers found the unexpected.

A human skull.

The hikers called authorities who, given the day, sealed off the area and then the morning after Christmas descended with a full forensics team to scrape, dig and sift through dirt and ash. They found more bones. And a second skull.

Since then, officials have learned little more than what they knew at the time. The investigators believe the skulls were there before the Station Fire, though they don't know for how long.

One of the skulls, of a man, has a bullet hole in it. The other skull, of a woman, shows signs of trauma. More bones were found nearby, as were three distinctive jeweled rings, which police had hoped would help them figure out who the victims were.

No such luck. They can't even tell whether the two people were killed at the same time, or whether they are investigating two separate crimes. Anthropologists and other investigators from the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office are hoping more detailed analysis of the bones, DNA and the site will yield more clues.

"It can be a couple of months" for DNA analysis to be finished, said Ed Winter, assistant chief coroner for the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office. "Then, of course, it can be years before you get any hits."

Despite the tragic circumstances, the discoveries add to the mystique of Los Angeles' mountains, and the high desert beyond, which have long been favorite dumping grounds for killers, hideaways for pot-farmers and meth-makers, and desolate scenes for rape.

The remote reaches of L.A.'s mountains have even shown up in popular culture, from "Perry Mason" TV shows to literature. James M. Cain's narrator in "Double Indemnity," for instance, sets up an unsuccessful murder in a remote part of Griffith Park, the city's iconic wildlands straddling the mountains separating Hollywood from the San Fernando Valley.

"It's not uncommon, unfortunately," Winter said. "We recently had bones found in Griffith Park. The fire came through, and then the heavy rains, and a week later a hiker found some bones."

It's impossible to measure a void, so officials can't say how many bodies go unfound in the dense underbrush.

And it's not just bodies that find a final resting place in the wilds. After a fire sweeps through, all manner of trash and discards, such as abandoned cars and old furniture, emerge from the underbrush, charred castoffs from the densely populated flatlands.

"Urban areas, such as L.A., mean there is little privacy," said Glynn Martin, executive director of the Los Angeles Police Historical Society. "The forests, on the other hand, provide remote expanses where many things criminal, such as marijuana grows, rapes or murders, can be carried out privately and without the risk of immediate discovery."

Some crimes have drawn national media coverage. The body of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was found in the nearby Cleveland National Forest in Orange County in 2002, where she had been buried by her kidnapper and killer, Alejandro Avila, who was sentenced to death in the case in 2005.

Martin, though, disputes the notion that the mountains carry a mystique as a dumping ground. It's more a function of proximity.

"There are about 10 million people in the greater L.A. area," he said, "For the very, very few that have disposal needs of a criminal variety, there are two obvious choices: the Pacific Ocean or the mountains. In the one case, debris becomes apparent, and in the other it generally doesn't. I wouldn't rush to call L.A.'s beaches a dumping ground for the murderous few, so I wouldn't apply it to the local forests, either."

Still, Winter said, the mountains regularly give up their dead.

"Sometimes bodies are dumped and found rather quickly, and then sometimes after we've had heavy rains hikers will locate human bones in the sands," he said. "We have a specialized team that responds to skeletal remains, and they sometimes go out two or three times in a month, and then for a couple of months we don't have anything.

"But it happens all the time."
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Nut44x4
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Coroner's officials seek help identifying woman's remains
Body discovered in Angeles National Forest following Station Fire
Frank C. Girardot, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/06/2010 04:58:01 PM PDT

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - Coroner's officials Tuesday released a composite sketch of a woman whose body was found in the Angeles National Forest after the Station Fire.

The skeletal remains were found on Dec. 26. near the Angeles Crest Highway, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner spokesman Craig Harvey said in a statement released Tuesday.
Posted Image
"Jane Doe 87" was "determined to be a White or Hispanic female with an age range between 20-40 years old," Harvey said. "The skeletal remains may have been at this location for an extended period of time, possibly several years prior to the "Station Fire" in August 2009."

The composite drawing depicts a woman with a slight overbite and dark hair pulled back in a bun. The woman had several items of jewelry including a yellow metal band with five clear stones and six pink stones, a yellow metal band with five clear stones and six blue stones and a yellow metal band with five clear stones and six green stones.

Additionally she had a yellow metal necklace, Harvey said.

The woman's skull was found just days after the skull of a man was located in the area near Lucas Creek, investigators said.

Detectives said the man's skull appeared to have been pierced by a bullet. Investigators said both sets of remains had been placed in shallow graves and had been undisturbed for some time before last year's Station Fire, which destroyed more than 250 square miles of the Angeles National Forest.
Hikers discovered the man's skull on Dec. 24. The woman's skull was located after cadaver sniffing dogs were brought to the scene, officials said.

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_15451396
and Justice for all ....
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tatertot
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http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-g...0,5240262.story

Jane Doe case runs cold
Officials believe body 'partially unearthed' by Station fire and rainfall could have been there for years.
By Melanie Hicken
July 8, 2010

The Los Angeles County coroner's office is seeking the public's help in identifying a woman whose remains were found last year in the Angeles National Forest after the Station fire.

Coroner's officials on Wednesday released a composite sketch of the Jane Doe, who officials believe was a white or Latino woman between the age of 20 and 40 at the time of death. The sketch was created using clay reconstruction technology.

The woman's skull was found Dec. 26 in a burned-out area below Angeles Forest Highway, two days after hikers there discovered a male skull with a bullet hole, officials said.

After the first discovery, forensic experts scoured the site with cadaver dogs that found the second skull, officials said. Examination of the other bones found near the skulls led forensic experts to conclude that the remains were of a man and a woman.

Several pieces of jewelry were found near the woman's remains, including a gold-colored necklace and three gold-colored rings with multicolored stones, officials said.

Investigators have said the man and woman were likely left in shallow graves, which were "partially unearthed" during the Station fire and ensuing rainfall, said Ed Winter, assistant chief at the coroner's office.

Officials suspect the bodies could have been there for years. Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators assigned to the case could not be reached for comment.

Since the woman's remains were discovered, officials have contacted law enforcement agencies, checked dental records and searched missing persons and DNA databases, but the trail has come up cold, Winter said.

"Unfortunately, we've gotten nothing," he said. "So we are asking for the public's help."

The male remains have also yet to be identified, Winter said. No composite sketch has, as yet, been made.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Investigator Daniel Machian at the Los Angeles County Coroner Identifications Unit at (323) 343-0754 or the Coroner Investigations Division at (323) 343-0714.
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-g...0,5508160.story
Officials seek help in identifying remains found in Angeles National Forest

Authorities released this composite sketch of a woman whose remains were found in Angeles National Forest in December. They she could have been buried well before the Station fire. (Los Angeles County coroner's office.)

By Melanie Hicken

July 7, 2010 | 1:36 p.m.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office is seeking the public’s help in identifying a woman whose remains were found last year in the Angeles National Forest after the Station fire.

Coroner’s officials on Wednesday released a composite sketch of the Jane Doe, who officials believe was a white or Latino woman between the age of 20 and 40 at the time of death. The sketch was created using clay reconstruction technology.

The woman’s skull was found on Dec. 26 in the burned-out area below Angeles Forest Highway, two days after hikers discovered a male skull with an apparent bullet hole in the same area, officials said.

After the first discovery, forensic experts scoured the site with cadaver dogs who located the second skull, officials said. Examination of the other bones found near the skulls led forensic experts to conclude the remains were of a man and a woman.

Several pieces of jewelry were found near the woman’s remains, including a gold-colored necklace and three gold-colored rings with multi-colored stones, officials said.

Investigators have said the man and woman were likely left in shallow graves, which were “partially unearthed” during the Station fire and ensuing rainfall, said Ed Winter, assistant chief at the coroner’s office.

Officials suspect the bodies could have been there for several years.

Since the woman’s remains were discovered, officials have contacted numerous law enforcement agencies, checked dental records and searched missing persons and DNA databases, but have the trail has come up cold, Winter said.

“Unfortunately, we’ve gotten nothing,” he said. “So we are asking for the public’s help.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Investigator Daniel Machian at the Los Angeles County Coroner Identifications Unit at (323) 343-0754 or the Coroner Investigations Division at (323) 343-0714.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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Nut44x4
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Here is a good California site to compare the Doe face to missing women.

Main page gives different dates of missing

http://www.missingincalifornia.com
and Justice for all ....
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Nut44x4
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http://www.missingincalifornia.com/atinuikevorkian2000.html
and Justice for all ....
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mimi
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https://identifyus.org/en/cases/full_report/7573
NamUs UP # 7573
No_photo
ME/C Case Number: 2009-08892
Los Angeles County, California
20 to 40 year old White Hispanic/Latino Female
Case Report - NamUs UP # 7573
Case Information
Status Unidentified
Case number 2009-08892
Date found December 26, 2009 10:00
Date created August 13, 2010 10:16
Date last modified November 30, 2011 15:32
Date QA reviewed November 30, 2011 16:30
Local Contact (ME/C or Other)
Agency Los Angeles Cnty Coroners Ofc
Phone 323-343-0512
Case Manager
Name Daniel Machian
Phone 323.343.0754
Demographics
Estimated age Adult - Pre 50
Minimum age 20 years
Maximum age 40 years
Race White
Ethnicity Hispanic/Latino
Sex Female
Weight (pounds) , Cannot Estimate
Height (inches) 62, Measured
Body Parts Inventory
One or more limbs not recovered
One or both hands not recovered
Notes on body parts recovered
Body conditions
Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
Probable year of death to 2009
Estimated postmortem interval Years
Circumstances
Location Found
GPS coordinates
Address 1 Angeles Forest Highway
Address 2
City Angeles National forest
State California
Zip code 91006
County Los Angeles
Circumstances of death
These skeletal remains were found on 12/26/2009 by the Los Angeles County Coroner while they were doing another recovery (coroner case #2009-08855).
http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...showtopic=55413

Decedent found under a few inches of sediment, this area had recently suffered from a wildfire.
Physical
Hair color Unknown or Completely Bald
Left eye color Unknown or Missing
Right eye color Unknown or Missing
Clothing with body
Jewelry
1 yellow metal necklace
1 yellow metal band with 5 clear stones and 6 pink stones
1 yellow metal band with 5 clear stones and 6 blue stones
1 yellow metal band with 5 clear stones and 6 green stones
Dental information / charting is available
X-Rays available
DNA
Complete and entered below
Type mtDNA
Location Other
Describe location California DOJ/DNA lab
Reference # BK # 10-0131-01



Exclusions
The following people have been ruled out as being this decedent:
First Name Last Name Year of Birth State LKA
Mindy Arnett 1981 Michigan
Joyce Crider 1970 Kentucky
Alicia Digna 1982 Michigan
Jodi Huisentruit 1968 Iowa
Nadia Kersh 1985 Alabama
Hazel Klug 1962 Virginia
Roxanne Paltauf 1988 Texas
Kyla Porter 1988 Florida
Susan Powell 1981 Utah
Patricia Schmidt 1964 Virginia
Toni Sharpless 1979 Pennsylvania
Megan Tinsley 1988 Minnesota
Christina Whittaker 1988 Missouri
Jennifer Wilson 1974 California
Natalie Woodward 1976 New Jersey
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