A 17-year-old girl found dead in a park in Montecito Heights along with another young woman was from Pico Rivera and went to school in Glassell Park, according to friends and relatives.
Authorities said both women were murdered. The two bodies were discovered by a woman walking her dog.
The coroner’s office has not released her name, citing a security hold on the case. On Thursday, the coroner’s office identified the other person whose body was found on Wednesday at Ernest E. Debs Regional Park as 19-year-old Gabriela Calzada.
The young women’s deaths have been classified as homicides, said Officer Aareon Jefferson of the Los Angeles Police Departments Media Relations Section. There have been no arrests in the case.
One of the young women was reported missing about 9 p.m. Wednesday, nearly seven hours after their bodies were found about 2:20 p.m. near Mercury and Boundary avenues along a walking path through the park, according to the LAPD. No details were immediately available about who made the report.
The coroner’s office reported that the security hold was ordered by investigators and precluded the release of the younger victim’s name or other details of the case.
Autopsies to determine the victims’ causes of death were pending, according to the coroner’s office.
A woman walking her dog came upon the bodies, which were on the side of a hill, and called police, LAPD Officer Matthew Ludwig said Wednesday.
Los Angeles police Capt. Martin Baeza said the women were found fully clothed about 300 yards from the street, and did not appear to have been sexually assaulted. He declined to comment on whether police found obvious signs of trauma on the bodies.
— City News Service