Detectives question 2nd “person of interest” in Pyramid Lake stabbing death

Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County, California (Credit: Roman Fuchs/Wikimedia Commons)
Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County, California (Credit: Roman Fuchs/Wikimedia Commons)
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Homicide detectives probing the stabbing death of a Newhall man whose body was found a month ago near Pyramid Lake and the Piru Creek Campground this week detained and questioned a second person of interest in the murder.

Last month, detectives investigating the murder of Josue Salvadore Antonez named a 27-year-old dish washer from Newhall as a “person of interest” in the murder and on Monday they detained a 32-year-old laborer also from Newhall as their latest “person of interest.”

Each “person of interest” was released from custody after answering questions posed by the detectives, said Lt. John Corina, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau.

Both persons of interest were identified as Hispanic men who live in Newhall.

The latest “person of interest” who was detained Monday had been arrested in December on suspicion of possessing a narcotic.

That drug case, however, “was declined due to insufficient evidence,” Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

In the meantime, homicide detectives continue to investigate and interview anyone with information about that Saturday at Pyramid Lake in the middle of the summer.

Detectives are now looking at a third “person of interest” to ask about the case, Corina told The Signal Wednesday.

“We’re looking at a different (third) person of interest right now,” he said. “We think we have a better idea of what happened. But, we’re still trying to solidify things.

“This is a tough one,” Corina said about the case. “A guy stabbed and left slowly to die in a creek.”

On July 8, around 5:40 p.m., Antonez’s body was found near Frenchman’s Flat on the Golden State Highway Old Road. He had been stabbed, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Asked Wednesday about a possible motive for the murder, Corina said: “We’re still looking for a possible motive.”

There was no ID or vehicle found with the body.

Paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department who responded to reports of the body being found there pronounced the man dead at 6:20 p.m. on July 8, Brian Elias, coroner spokesman said last month.

“He was down in the river bed area,” Elias said. “We’re not sure if he was in the water or not, but in the river bed.

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