Body at Castaic Lake Could Belong to Missing Student, 19-Year-Old Bryce Laspisa (VIDEO)
Police in search of a missing 19-year-old man near the Castaic Lake area discovered what appeared to be a burning body on Wednesday morning.
Authorities believe they may have discovered the body of Bryce Laspisa, a college student from Laguna Niguel who has been missing since last week. Police have been unable to confirm identification at this point however beyond stating that the body discovered is male.
"We have no idea who this is," L.A. County sheriff's Sgt. Rich Nagler told the L.A. Times. "We are waiting for homicide [detectives] and the coroners to arrive."
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Laspisa's 2003 Toyota Highlander was discovered at around 5:30 a.m. Friday morning on the Main Ramp Road near the lake, authorities said. The 19-year-old's parents claim their son had called just before and was heading over to their Kern County home for a visit. Police have been on the search for the teen's body since.
Police were alerted to the fire by a cyclist who was passing the Castaic Lake area at around 6 a.m., the Times reported. It took officials 18 minutes to reach the blaze. Officials were cautious about giving off too much information.
"We don't know a whole lot. We'll know a lot more once the autopsy is performed," sheriff's Lt. Dave Dolson told the local KTLA news.
"At this point there's no way we can connect the two because we don't have a positive identification on the body," Lt. Wes Sutton added.
A canopy was erected over the area where the body was discovered and privacy barriers were set up to protect the victim's privacy. There were camera surveillance systems in the area, which police plan to inspect.
Laspisa was described by authorities as white with red hair and blue eyes. He is 5-foot-11 and weighs 170 pounds. His parents informed KTLA that they were still awaiting confirmation from investigators late Wednesday afternoon.
