Investigators with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Department have identified the body found near Golden Valley High School as that of Maricela Garcia, 26, of Tarzana.
Lt. Rudy Molano, of the coroner’s department, told The Signal Wednesday morning that a positive identification has been made but that a cause of death has yet to be determined.
Maricela Garcia, 26, of Tarzana, went missing Jan. 12.
Edgar Garcia, the young woman’s brother, called The Signal shortly after the body was found March 7, fearing the discovery may have been his sister.
Sadly, those fears were confirmed Wednesday.
Garcia’s body was found shortly after 2 p.m. on March 7, Sgt. Brian Allen of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station told The Signal at the time.
It was found south of Robert C. Lee Parkway, southwest of the high school, at the bottom of an embankment in a “dirt field turnaround” area off of Golden Valley Road, Allen said.
“It’s been very rough,” Edgar Garcia told The Signal shortly after the body was found.
“Every time you read about a body being found your heart drops because you wonder if it’s your loved one,” he said.
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