A body found dumped on Angeles Crest Highway north of La Canada Flintridge may be that of a San Bernardino woman who has been missing since 2012.
She was identified Wednesday as Raylynn Josephine Deanne Hernandez, 21, according to Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.
While the victim’s city of residence has yet to be confirmed, Hernandez’s name and date of birth have been confirmed as matching a missing person’s report issued by San Bernardino Police Department in 2012, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The missing person’s report indicates the then-16-year-old Hernandez had last been seen on May 25, 2012. She was described as having brown eyes and dyed red hair, in addition to star tattoos on her left wrist and the name “Leyla” with two hearts tattooed on her right forearm, according to the Times.
San Bernardino police officials said on Dec. 30, 2014, they were notified by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department that Hernandez had been located and, by that point, “she had been declared an emancipated minor.” She was removed from the missing person’s system.
Hernandez was discovered by a hiker about 1:30 p.m. Sunday on a hillside near mile marker 30.45, which is about three miles north of the Foothill (210) Freeway, and north of La Canada Flintridge, according to Deputy Wally Bracks.
She suffered multiple stab wounds and appeared to have been dumped off a steep hillside just off the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene, Bracks said.
No suspect information was immediately available, according sheriff’s homicide Lt. John Corina. The investigation was ongoing.
Anyone with information on this woman’s death was asked to call the sheriff’s homicide bureau at (323) 890-5500. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS. All tips can be made anonymously.