Identified! CA - Gorman, Male skeletal remains near highway, Mar'14 - Ricardo Lopez

A man whose decomposed body was found near Gorman last weekend by firefighters battling a 100-acre brush fire was the victim of foul play and may have been shot, a homicide detective said Monday.

“We’re mode-ing it as a homicide,” said Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide Detective Karen Shonka.

“There were some injuries to the skull and at least one that leads us to believe a firearm was involved,” she said. “We’re waiting on information from the coroner to confirm.

“Once we have the autopsy results, we’ll know better,” she said.

Investigators, including Shonka, were at a remote area off Highway 138 near Gorman on Sunday collecting bits of bone and other material in a bid to find out who the victim was and what killed him.

Investigators said the victim is apparently a male adult and he may have been dead four years.

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Homicide detectives have identified the murder victim whose skeletal remains were found near Gorman as 32-year-old Ricardo Lopez of the Athens area of Los Angeles, the detective heading the probe said today...

“He was identified through DNA from his femur,” she said, referring to a leg bone.

Skeletal remains of Lopez were found in March on a charred hillside near Gorman after a brush fire denuded the area.

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“There’s evidence that it was a homicide by gunshot,” said Detective Shonka for the Homicide Bureau of the Sheriff’s Department. “He was last seen by his family on Feb 6. 2011, and he was reported missing Feb. 9”...

Detectives also are seeking help in finding a 2003 gold-colored Ford Focus they believe will help provide more information for their investigation.

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On Feb. 5, 2011, thousands across the country got together with friends to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday. Ricardo Lopez got together with friends too — and was never seen again.

The 32-year-old Los Angeles man, who went by the nickname “Shorty,” was heading out the door of his home on Berendo Avenue in the Athens area of the city and told his mother he was meeting friends. He got behind the wheel of his mother’s 2003 gold Ford Focus, and that was the last she saw him...

From the doorstep of his family’s home to the Gorman hillside where his remains were found is at least 68 miles of clear, unobstructed road. Access to Interstate 110 then Interstate 5 is just three blocks from his home.

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