A 27-year-old Laguna Hills woman who went missing in February and was found dead in April off Ortega Highway near San Juan Capistrano died of a drug overdose, and is not believed to be a homicide victim, sheriff’s officials announced Wednesday.
Erica Alonso was reported missing in mid-February, prompting public calls for help from her family and sheriff’s investigators.
Her decomposed body was found April 27 in the Cleveland National Forest, one mile east of the San Juan Capistrano Fire-Ranger station on Ortega Highway, near Hot Springs Road. Biologists working for Caltrans found the remains.
“We don’t believe it’s a homicide,” sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said. “But we’re not in a position to say for sure it’s an accident.”
Alonso had a lethal dose of alcohol and the drug GHB in her system, according to autopsy findings, Hallock said. Her blood-alcohol level was .22, nearly three times the legal limit for driving.
The cause of death is officially listed as an overdose, but the manner is considered undetermined, he said.
“The investigation is ongoing as to what happened and how she ended up off Ortega Highway,” Hallock said.
Investigators say Alonso’s body did not bear any obvious signs of trauma.
Alonso was last seen leaving her boyfriend’s home in Irvine about 3:45 a.m. Feb. 15. Authorities located her white 2014 Honda Civic EX near Cedarbrook and Redwood in the Glenwood Park neighborhood of Aliso Viejo on March 25.
Her relatives, who suspect Alonso was a victim of foul play, have been demanding answers from authorities about the investigation since her body was found.
Her father told City News Service it was “a big surprise” to find out his daughter died from a drug overdose.
“We were not expecting something like that,” Isaac Alonso Sr. said. “It’s hard to believe because she didn’t do heavy drugs. I knew she did it, but it was lightly, not addicted or anything like that.”
His daughter’s cause of death “raises more questions” for the family, he said.
“Somebody did this and we need to find out why would they try to get rid of the body,” he said. “If they knew what was happening, they could call 911 and ask for help or something and they didn’t do that.”
Isaac Alonso wants state or county lawmakers to make it a crime to fail to timely report a death. He also wants county officials to put up video cameras along Ortega Highway so law enforcement can have another tool to detect and solve crimes in the remote areas along the thoroughfare.
“It would be so much help for the investigators so they can do a better job,” he said. “If they had cameras there, they could have seen who drove by at those hours.”
—City News Service