The death of a man found in a partially submerged car in the San Gabriel Reservoir Wednesday is still under investigation, but investigators have disclosed the vehicle is associated with a missing persons report.
The missing persons report was filed on Aug. 18, 2011. Next of kin of the deceased have been notified, although the coroner has yet to make a positive identification on the badly decomposed body.
According to the LA Crime Stoppers website, a man named Fausto Vidrio went missing in Azusa on Aug. 18. Authorities have not confirmed that the body is Vidrio's, and a coroner's official said the body was too decomposed to immediately identify.
Ed Winter, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, told Patch that it would take more time to identify the man because his body was so decomposed. No additional details about the man were available, he said.
"We're going to keep working on this," Winter said.
At 7:21 a.m., a California Highway Patrol officer responded to a call of a vehicle over the side of the embankment at mile marker 24. The black vehicle was partially submerged down a 450-foot embankment on the east side of San Gabriel Canyon Road.
L.A. County Search and Rescue and a L.A. County Fire Helicopter 14 were called to the scene.
While the driver’s side of the vehicle was submerged in the water, on-site personnel said they did not observe anyone in the vehicle.
Later, at around noon, Jan’s Towing pulled the vehicle from the water and alerted authorities that a body was inside the vehicle.
Sheriff's officials initially told City News Service that the car had been in the reservoir for some time and that authorities were aware of its presence there. They decided to pull it out after receiving calls when the car became visible because water had receded, according to CNS.
