A study is underway after the authorities found that a body that matched the description of a missing 13-year-old boy, Los Angeles police said.
Oscar Omar Hernandez from the San Fernando Valley was reported missing by his family on Sunday after he “did not return home from visiting an acquaintance in Lancaster,” Lapd Capt said. Scot Williams in a statement.
Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division took over the lead on Tuesday in the investigation, which subsequently led them to a “area of interest” in the city of Oxnard, west of Los Angeles, Williams said.
“In collaboration with our partners at the FBI, a coordinated footing of this area took place,” Williams said. “During the search, a body was discovered that matched the description of the missing teenager.”
The deceased’s identity is not officially confirmed and the cause of death remains indefinite, police say.
Detectives are pursuing leading to “determining the cause of death and to identifying all persons who may be involved or possessing information relevant to this study,” Williams said.
Family and friends have a vigilance for Oscar Omar Hernandez in Los Angeles, April 3, 2025.
Kabc
LAPD vice manager Alan Hamilton told journalists on stage in Oxnard on Wednesday that they were working to establish a timeline in the case.
“The family was aware of his destination, and I would like to leave it as part of the investigation,” he said.
Police would not say what led them to Oxnard.
“All we can say is that our study led us to this point here … in the non -link -corporate area of Ventura County,” Hamilton said.
Family and friends of Oscar paid tribute to the teenager on Thursday at the place where the body was found on the side of a road in Oxnard.
“He didn’t have to be treated like an animal. It was my son,” cried his mother, Gladys Bautista, in Spanish, ABC News’ Los Angeles Station Kabc.
The loved ones also gathered outside his home in the northern Hollywood area, where friends remembered him as the “best person” who was “always kind -hearted” and a great dancer.
Police did not have an update on the investigation on Friday.
“Anyone who thinks they are going to get away with any kind of bad game or dishonest activity or criminal activity, they will learn that Los Angeles Police Department stops at nothing to bring people to justice,” Hamilton said on stage Wednesday.
