CA CA - Barstow, HispFem 14-19, UP6718, severed head in backpack, Feb'10

JBean

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BARSTOW • A human head found off Lenwood Road is being investigated as a possible homicide, according to the Barstow Police Department.
snip
Because of the condition of the remains, police haven’t determined the victim’s age or gender yet. Police officers were notified at about 2:55 p.m. Wednesday.

The case is still under investigation. Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to call Detective Keith Libby at (760) 256-2211 or WeTip at 1 (800) 78-27463.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/barstow-17278-desert-head.html
 
Is Barstow any where near where that wealthy guy crashed his plane??? Steve Fosset is who I am thinking of...
 
Is Barstow any where near where that wealthy guy crashed his plane??? Steve Fosset is who I am thinking of...

Barstow is the halfway point between Los Angeles and Las Vegas (with very little else but desert and a few gas-stops on either side) . It used to be a one-horse-town, mostly gas stations and fast-food joints, but it has become a fairly large community in recent years.

That area is the other major dumping ground for Los Angeles murder victims (besides Angeles Crest).

There was a recent thread on James Perryman's disappearance.

Possible Match NV-James Lewis Perryman - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


If the UID in Nevada is not him, he is also probably somewhere along the same route.

Steve Fossett was found at Mammoth Lakes (up toward Yosemite), much further north. Amber Dubois disappeared further south, and there are much more convenient areas than the Barstow area to dump her body.
 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,586336,00.html

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-barstow-severed-head,0,4789082.story
It was found in a back pack wrapped in Fiesta food and Walgreens bags. I searched and there are approximately nine locations for Fiesta foods--all in the Los Angeles/Orange County area.

Two of the Fiesta Foods locations are up in Central California (Fresno and Salinas), one is in Anaheim (Orange County) and the rest are in the same area (i.e., San Bernadino, Ontario, Fontana, Rialto, and Moreno Valley). This area surrounds the 15 and 215 freeways which lead directly towards Barstow. This is a very working-class low income area with a heavy hispanic population. Also, Fiesta Foods caters directly to the hispanic population, with meat counters that include cuts of meat bought primarily by hispanics (e.g., beef tongue, tripe, etc.), and brands (e.g., Bimbo bread) found primarily in Mexico and Central America.

Based on that, I would guess that the victim (and/or the perp) is a Hispanic from the area along the border between San Bernadino and Los Angeles Counties (known locally as the "Inland Empire").
 
I bet this is a local job...everyone who lives in SoCal knows how desolate Barstow is, and excessible from the freeway. In other words, I dont think this is a... say...trucker headed west who dumped the body part. How absolutely horrific either way. I hope LE updates on this....
 
I bet this is a local job...everyone who lives in SoCal knows how desolate Barstow is, and excessible from the freeway. In other words, I dont think this is a... say...trucker headed west who dumped the body part. How absolutely horrific either way. I hope LE updates on this....

I agree. The head was dumped on a side road on the western outskirts of Barstow. I can imagine the killer heading out into the desert thinking that he will keep going until it gets really desolate. And then realizing that he is approaching Barstow (i.e., a populated area with lots of cops who like to pull drivers over for traffic violations), he gets nervous and decides to pull off and dump the package before he gets into town.

By the way, although it is desolate out there, the traffic is always heavy with Los Angeles area residents heading out to Las Vegas, so I can imagine the perp constantly thinking while he is driving that there are too many people around.
 
Lenwood is a major stop for people going to Las Vegas as well as a major stop for Truck Drivers. There is also a very large shopping outlet located there...there are so many possibilities but I think the shopping bags are crucial evidence in this case. My guess would be that she is from the area of Barstow or neighboring city of Victorville.
 
Interesting to me is that the head was in a backpack. Why a backpack? Was someone actually carrying it around on their back? Possibly hitchhiking with it? Yikes? Also, then, if you're trying to get rid of it, would you bother leave it out in the open and not put in some dumpster somewhere, where it probably never would've been found? Interesting, but sick!
 
Lenwood is a major stop for people going to Las Vegas as well as a major stop for Truck Drivers. There is also a very large shopping outlet located there...there are so many possibilities but I think the shopping bags are crucial evidence in this case. My guess would be that she is from the area of Barstow or neighboring city of Victorville.

I agree. I would not call Barstow / Lenwood exactly desolate as compared to the 100's of mile of empty desert. Barstow is a major cross road for truckers and folks traveling to/from Nevada on the 15 or East on the 40 ("the river"). And Lenwood Road is the #1 Barstow stop for food, gas and shopping.

IF you did not want a body / head found, there are many better places along the same road to BURY something. For example, the Zyzzx road to nowhere.
 
They don't look like the same operation. Here is the link one in California.

http://www.fiestamexicanamarket.com/files_en/home_en.aspx

They have different logos.

Yep, Carl's right, it is his link. There are a lot of locations near the foot hills at the beginning of the 15 pass towards Barstow. Barstow is only 1.5 hours away from most of these.

With all the CHP traveling between Victorville and Barstow, you would never want to stop on the side of the highway. Lenwood (west loop) would be the first exist to dump.
 
IF you did not want a body / head found, there are many better places along the same road to BURY something. For example, the Zyzzx road to nowhere.

That's the Zzyzx road to nowhere. (Not to be nitpicky or anything :) ) Everytime I am driving to Vegas and drive past the Zzyzx road offramp, I think to myself that this would be a great place to take a cadaver dog for a walk!!
 
That's the Zzyzx road to nowhere. (Not to be nitpicky or anything :) ) Everytime I am driving to Vegas and drive past the Zzyzx road offramp, I think to myself that this would be a great place to take a cadaver dog for a walk!!

I was pretty sure I got it wrong but was too lazy to look it up. But every local will know what we mean.

I agree, there has to be many bodies buried in the desert. Just too easy. They use to "joke" about the mob in Las Vegas taking people on a one-way trip into the desert. I'm not so sure there wasn't some truth in this joke.
 

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