A body found off of Piuma Road last month has been identified as 19-year-old Roger Eli Chavez-Barahona. According to LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner public information officer Sarah Ardalani, the male—a resident of Compton, Calif.—died from multiple gunshot wounds.
“His death has been ruled a homicide,” she said, in a phone call with The Malibu Times.
According to a shared statement from the LA County Sheriff’s Department, the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station received a call from a passerby about the body at 11:28 a.m. The body was then located to the 12000 block of Piuma Road, just outside the City of Malibu in unincorporated Santa Monica Mountains.
It was found “a short distance down an embankment in the early stages of decomposition,” the statement read.
Chavez-Barahona was pronounced dead on scene at 11:54 a.m.; his death has been ruled a homicide.
On July 27, multiple residents reported that several helicopters and officials from different departments had been involved on the scene.
The investigation is ongoing, under the jurisdiction of LASD Homicide Bureau. No information has been released regarding the suspect.
Anyone with information is advised to contact the bureau at 323.890.5500.