Members of the San Dimas Search and Rescue Team retrieved human remains found near the ignition point of the Reservoir Fire Friday afternoon.
The Special Operations Response Team with the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner was on scene to collect the human remains from two different bodies, said coroner Assistant Chief Ed Winter.
While Winter would not say what specifically was found, he did confirm that the remains were from two humans.
The remains were brought down from a steep cliff on the west side of Highway 39 across from Morris Dam.
Members of the San Dimas Search and Rescue Team traverse a steep hillside near Morris Dam above Azusa July 8. photo by Aaron Castrejon.
GCN was on scene as search and rescue team members were busy carrying the remains down the steep mountainside.
Sheriff’s investigators and the search and rescue team left the scene shortly after 3 p.m.
The San Dimas Search and Rescue Team located the remains around 11 p.m. July 7. The remains were “significantly impacted by the effects of the fire,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
Sheriff’s Department personnel remained on scene overnight to guard the remains. Sheriff’s Homicide detectives and Coroner’s officials returned to the scene Friday morning to continue the investigation.
Coroner’s technicians arrived around 8:30 a.m., said Winter, who was on scene assisting the investigation.
Photo courtesy of Ricardo Perez.
While identification is still pending, family members believe the remains are of 16-year-old Jonathan Pardo and 31-year-old cousin Carlos Perez.
The two were reportedly dropped off near where the Reservoir Fire ignited June 20. The two could not be located and two weeks after the fires were mostly extinguished, family members continued searching for any sign Pardo and Perez, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ricardo Pardo, Jonathan’s brother, said he and other family members discovered the remains and accuse law enforcement of not doing more to help find the pair.
A gofundme donation page has been established to help fund their burials.
Sheriff’s deputies from the San Dimas Station and Los Angeles County Firefighters responded around 2:22 p.m. July 7 to a then unconfirmed report of human remains discovered in the San Gabriel Mountains above Azusa, said Lt. Darren Harris of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
A Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter conducted an unsuccessful search from the air, but ground crews made the discovery hours later.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website lacrimestoppers.org.
