A minivan and scattered human bones were discovered 150 feet down a cliff below a road in the mountains above Malibu last weekend, and a California Highway Patrol spokesperson said they were waiting for the coroner to determine a cause of death before categorizing the incident a traffic crash or crime.
The mystery began to unfold at 1:45 p.m. Sunday, June 4, when a sheriff’s department helicopter crew flying between Malibu and Agoura Hills spotted the van 150 feet down a very-steep hillside below Kanan Dume Road. The wreck was about one mile north of the Malibu city limits, in upper Ramirez Canyon.
The chopper crew notified the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station commanders, who sent detectives, the Malibu Search and Rescue Team and the California Highway Patrol.
Rescuers used ropes to get down the hillside, and found a Kia minivan “on its wheels, with very little damage,” CHP Information Officer Leland Tang said. The van’s license plates were traced back to a person last seen in March, he said. The van traces back to a 45-year-old Woodland Hills man, later reports stated.
Officials discovered decomposing human remains and bones scattered around the hillside, Tang added. That canyon is home to coyotes, cougars and wildcats known to scavenge human remains.
“It was determined that the person had exited the van on his or her own,” Tang said. “Whether he or she had driven down there, or if there had been some sort of crash, we don’t know.”
There were no visible signs that a car had gone over the side of the canyon road, but it was rainy in much of March and evidence of a vehicle going through roadside brush and down the cliff would be hard to spot now, he speculated.
The coroner’s office removed the bones and was analyzing them for an identity and cause of death, Tang said.
The CHP was still investigating as of Tuesday and — if the coroner’s office finds the person died of traffic crash injuries — the CHP will file a crash report. But, if there was a different cause of death, sheriff’s homicide detectives would get the case, Tang explained.
Traffic between Malibu and the Ventura (101) Freeway was only slightly delayed by the crash investigation, deputies said.