REGION — Authorities reached out to the public today for help identifying five young people whose names and life stories have remained unknown for decades after their deaths in the San Diego area.
In hopes of getting answers in the long-unsolved cases, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office has collaborated with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Rady Children’s Hospital and a forensic artist who created renderings of how the five might have looked around the time of their deaths.
One investigation centers on a dark-haired teenager or young man whose body was found in Sweetwater Reservoir in Spring Valley on Jan. 2, 1999. Investigators estimate his remains had been in the water for one to two days, according to the medical examiner. He was possibly Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 165 pounds and likely 17 to 22 years old when he died.
On his left shoulder, he had a large tattoo depicting a banner emblazoned with the word “wicca,” along with a bird in flight shaped like the letter “V,” an ankh symbol and a pentagram. The county office reported that he wore a gold-colored hoop earring in his left ear.
The other unidentified people were:
- A boy, 2 to 4 years old, found May 4, 2004, in a wooded area of Rancho Bernardo. His body was inside a green-and-tan canvas travel bag. He was dressed in red warm-up-style pants, a red sweatshirt and grayish-tan socks with red trim.
- A Hispanic boy, about 15 years old, was found dead on March 16, 1995, near the Tijuana River. He wore black Attrak-brand jeans, a hooded sweatshirt, two crucifix necklaces and black Puma shoes with red stripes. His hair was cropped on the sides, and he had a piercing in his left ear.
- A boy, about 12 to 16 years old, was found on July 22, 1979, on the Imperial Beach shoreline. Due to decomposition, little is known about him. He was about 5 feet tall and roughly 100 pounds, had brown hair and wore Lee jeans. He may have been white or Hispanic.
- A girl or young woman, estimated to have been 14 to 18 years old when she died, whose body was found Feb. 14, 1978, near Procter Valley Road. She wore denim overalls and a white halter top with a blue floral pattern. She had extensive dental work, shoulder-length brown hair in a ponytail, pierced ears and a slightly malformed right ear.
Anyone who can help investigators identify any of the five is asked to call the Medical Examiner’s Office at 858-694-2895.
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