Body Found Inside 50-Gallon Oil Drum

Los Angeles: On Tuesday, February 5, 2002, at approximately 12:15 p.m., officer’s from the Los Angeles County Hazardous Materials Division responded to a report of a 50-gallon oil drum dumped in the alley to the rear of 1211 West Anaheim Street. Upon their arrival to the location, the officers opened the sealed drum and discovered a human body inside. Harbor Area Homicide detectives were notified and responded to the scene to assume responsibility of the investigation.

The oil drum containing the body was transported to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office for examination. Once at the coroner’s office, the body was removed from the drum and was found to be that of a female of unknown decent or age. There was no identification located on the victim, and investigators were unable to secure fingerprints for comparison at this time.

The cause of death is pending the Coroner’s Investigation.

Harbor Operations Support Division, Homicide Detectives J. Goodman and P. Chavez are conducting the investigation. Anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is urged to contact them at 310-548-7621 or, after hours and during weekends 1-877-LAWFULL.

This press release was prepared by Public Information Officer Eduardo Funes, Media Relations Section, 213-485-3586.