More than a dozen sheriff’s deputies Saturday combed Malibu Canyon with the aid of three helicopters after a park worker reported talking to a man who fit the description of a rifle-toting burglar spotted in the area last Sunday.
Bloodhounds were being brought in to search the canyon south of the Malibu Creel State Park campgrounds, where 35-year-old Irvine resident Tristan Beaudette was shot to death in his tent June 22 while camping with his two daughters.
Sheriff’s Enforcement Bureau deputies used a helicopter to ferry more than a dozen crates of surveillance gear and other tactical items for a search that may extend into the night.
Dozens of squad cars were spotted in the canyon between Calabasas and Malibu by a reporter from KBUU radio.
Sheriff’s deputies kept hikers out of an area along the creek, south of Piyuma.
“I’m trying to preserve a crime scene, we’re bringing in bloodhounds,” a deputy said.
Deputies have said the burglary suspect has not been connected linked to the shooting, but they are considering it a possibility.
“We haven’t linked it (to Beaudette’s killing), but we certainly haven’t ruled it out,” Sgt. Matthew Dunn told KBUU.
More than a dozen hikers remained in the recreation area near old movie sets in Malibyu Canyon Road at Mullholland Highway.
Hikers expressed surprise when they found out a manhunt was happening and that low-flying helicopters they had seen were searching for an armed burglar.
Last Sunday, a commercial structure north of the park was burglarized, and surveillance video showed a man wearing what deputies called “tactical gear” and carrying a rifle.
The armed man stole food, deputies told NBC4.
On Tuesday, there was a large manhunt in the canyon for that suspect, but he was not found. Tuesday night, some residents reported hearing gunfire.
Dunn said Saturday a maintenance worker at the Tapia Park area about a mile south of the campground “encountered a person who matched the description of the armed commercial burglar.”
Dunn said the man asked the park worker for a ride out of the canyon, “because he said there were so many police in the area.”
The maintenance worker left and called deputies.
By 4 p.m., three helicopters were in the area, along with dozens of deputies, working from a command post at King Gilette ranch at Mullholland Highway and Malibu Canyon Road.