CA - Blaze Bernstein, 19, Lake Forest, Jan 2018 - Media *NO DISCUSSION*

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California Advocates for the Missing

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Help Find Blaze Bernstein Public Group


9 Jan
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8 Jan
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Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. Missing Bulletin
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Google Docs List of Media Articles - Updated Periodically by HUFBB Facebook Group Admins
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NRYSketjbn7CITGiNeNZwKH1WxHmYKUmfWerD2OV9_Q/edit


News Media

5 Jan 2018

Student, 19, Missing in Lake Forest — Patch.com


Patch.com said:
Annee Della Donna, an attorney and friend of the family, discussed the timeline since Blaze's mysterious disappearance.
"At 9:30 p.m., he sent a text message with his family's Lake Forest address for a high school buddy to pick him up and take him to the park to meet the third person," she said. "The park is five minutes away and they got there about 10:30 p.m. Bernstein went off alone into the park while his friend waited back in the car."
Bernstein's friend eventually began sending text messages to him when he didn't return, but did not hear back from him, she said. The friend left and then returned at about 4 a.m. to look for Bernstein again.
"He didn't have anything with him," she said. "He didn't have his glasses or his medication. He didn't bring his wallet or a phone charger. I don't think he planned on this being a long trip and he just disappeared.”


Search underway for missing 19-year-old Lake Forest man - Orange County Register
OCRegister said:
The teenager apparently went to the park to meet another friend, said Sgt. Don Voght, who is leading the missing-person’s investigation for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
The friend who drove him to the park, who has been interviewed by the Sheriff’s Department, went to the restroom while Bernstein walked into the park toward Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, Voght said. The two parks are linked by a trail.
“His last cellphone text was to a female friend an hour later,” the mom said. “After that text, Blaze’s cellphone completely stopped working.”
The family lives within a 10-minute walk of the park and believes that Blaze’s visit with the friend at the park was to be a short one.
“He’s a planner; he was intending to come home that night,” Gideon Bernstein said.
Family launches frantic search for Penn college student missing in Orange County - ABC7 (includes video report)
ABC7 said:
Witnessses told investigators he met up with a friend and went to Borrego Park in Foothill Ranch, not far from his Lake Forest home. He left without telling his parents.
Bernstein walked into the park and hasn't been seen or heard from since….

"I feel like we've explored everything that we could in regard to what happened. But all that we really know is that he ran off into the wilderness and we don't know why," his mother, Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, said….


"He left our house that night with no wallet, no money, no identification, no credit cards, no keys, no eyeglasses - this is someone that needs to wear eyeglasses," Jeanne said….


Blaze takes medication daily and needs it to function, according to his mother. She added that she doesn't believe he would willingly leave and not have it with him.
Vanished! Mysterious disappearance of college student from OC park - MyNewsLA
MyNewsLA said:
Blaze N. Bernstein, who was visiting with family on winter break from the University of Pennsylvania, went to Borrego Park that night to meet someone for unknown reasons, said Annee Della Donna, an attorney and friend of the family. About 9:30 p.m., he sent a text message with his family’s Lake Forest address for a high school buddy to pick him up and take him to the park to meet the third person, she said.
MyNewsLA said:
The park is five minutes away and they got there about 10:30 p.m., the attorney said. Bernstein went off alone into the park while his friend waited back in the car, the attorney said.
Bernstein’s friend eventually began sending text messages to him when he didn’t return, but did not hear back from him, she said. The friend left and then returned about 4 a.m. to look for Bernstein again.
“He didn’t have anything with him,” she said. “He didn’t have his glasses or his medication. He didn’t bring his wallet or a phone charger. I don’t think he planned on this being a long trip and he just disappeared.”
Ivy League College Student from OC Vanishes after Going to Meet Friend at Park in Foothills Ranch - KTLA5 (includes video)
KTLA5 said:
Bernstein drove to the park -- located near the Foothill Ranch Library -- with another friend, according to a witness. He exited the vehicle, went into the park and mysteriously vanished.
KTLA5 said:
His parents, who pleaded publicly for their son's safe return at a news conference on Friday, came up with a timeline based on his cellphone record.
Around 10:30 p.m., they said, Bernstein texted his address to a friend, who came to the home and picked him up.
They drove to Borrego Park together, where they were going to meet up with another friend. While the first friend waited near a restroom, Bernstein walked toward the park to meet the other friend.
About an hour later, he sent a final text to a female friend, and then his phone apparently stopped working. The friend who picked him up said he never returned, and he left.
Bernstein's parents said he didn't have his ID, wallet, money, credit cards or glasses with him, leading them to believe their son was only expecting to be there for a short time.
Missing UPenn Student Vanishes While Visiting Parents In OC - CBS-LA
CBS-LA said:
Blaze N. Bernstein, who was visiting with family on winter break from the University of Pennsylvania, went to Borrego Park that night to meet someone for unknown reasons, said Annee Della Donna, an attorney and friend of the family. At 9:30 p.m., he sent a text message with his family’s Lake Forest address for a high school buddy to pick him up and take him to the park to meet the third person, she said.
CBS-LA said:
The park is five minutes away and they got there at 10:30 p.m., the attorney said. Bernstein went off alone into the park while his friend waited back in the car.
Bernstein’s friend eventually began sending text messages to him when he didn’t return, but did not hear back from him, she said. The friend left and then returned at 4 a.m. to look for Bernstein again. Eventually, the location device on Bernstein’s phone stopped functioning and the phone was turned off at 11:30 p.m., Donna said.
“He didn’t have anything with him,” Donna said Friday. “He didn’t have his glasses or his medication. He didn’t bring his wallet or a phone charger. I don’t think he planned on this being a long trip and he just disappeared.”
The sergeant in charge of the investigation said Bernstein walked into the darkness at Borrego Park — which is next door to Foothill Ranch Elementary School, which he attended — and disappeared. A search from the air and on the ground has revealed nothing. Deputies scoured nearby Whiting Ranch park. There were unconfirmed sightings of Blaze on the State Route 241, OCSD said.
“This one I tell you, I do find a little bit odd after speaking with the family,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Don Vogt said. “Blaze isn’t someone that wouldn’t talk to his parents, wouldn’t reach out to them unless he had a reason.”
 
Map & Photos: Borrego Park & Vicinity

Map and post courtesy of WS Member SoCalRes

I posted this on the original thread right before it was closed.

Hi all, Brand new here. Only found this forum because Blaze is missing from my neighborhood. I haven't read through all sixty some odd pages, but wanted to clarify some stuff I know just from living in Foothill Ranch.

There are two parks with the name "Borrego" in them. Borrego Overlook park is higher up in the residential area. It is smaller and can only be accessed through the neighborhood. This is NOT where he was last seen. Where he was last reported to be seen is Borrego Park. It sits between the local elementary school and the library. You can access it from the school, library, neighborhood and from the backside. The backside walking trail leads down a rather steep, long path to a shopping center. This trail can not be accessed by cars. The shopping center is adjacent to the entrance to Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park.

To get to Borrego Park by car, you go down a driveway that immediately comes to a "T". To the left is the library parking lot, to the right is a small parking lot for the park. The library DOES have surveillance cameras pointed at the library parking lot (aimed at the book drop in the library parking lot). These cameras may be able to see the driveway that leads to both the library and the park, but it is doubtful (due to the way it is laid out) that they will see anything in the park parking lot or park itself.

The parking lot for the park sits at one end of the park. The bathroom is right up against the parking lot. It remains unlocked at night. The playground sits right behind the bathroom. In the middle of the park is a large soccer field. Behind the soccer field is the walking trail to shopping center. There are lights by the parking lot and along the path that leads to the walking trail on the backside of the park. The other side of the park (by school) is VERY dark at night, but it is quite a distance from the parking lot (across a soccer field). The park itself is very flat. There are no houses that back to this park. It is doubtful noise from this park could be heard by any of the homes by the park unless it was something very loud like a gunshot. This is a popular park for walking during the day, but is very quiet at night.

The industrial park (where the Kawasaki building is) sits lower than the park. This area is called FootHILL Ranch for a reason. Lots of slopes and hills.

Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park sits in a valley between the two neighborhoods in Foothill Ranch. There are a lot of trails in the park and lots of areas that are inaccessible too. I've seen a lot of people call it a "forest" and although it has trees, it has far more brush, cactus, shrubs, etc. The park is home to lots of coyotes, snakes and even mountain lions. Anyone who lives here would not go hiking there at night without some serious protection.

I hope this clears up some questions about the layout of the park and surrounding area.

Someone asked if you can see the entrance to Whiting Ranch Park from the parking lot. No, not even close. From the parking lot at the park, you have to walk the length of a soccer field and the width of a basketball court, plus some just to get to the opening to the footpath that leads down the hill. The footpath is paved, fairly steep and has a curve. At the bottom of the footpath, there is a shopping center to the left (coffee place, hair salon, grocery store, gas station, etc.) and a small parking lot and the entrance to Whiting Ranch Park to the right.

From google maps: red x = Parking lot for park (small building right next to it is bathroom). Yellow line is trail across park, down the hill to entrance to Whiting Ranch. Green circle is entrance to whiting ranch. See next 3 pics
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Pic below is taken looking toward the shopping center from pink dot on google map. The yellow/orange lights are the footpath. Shopping center to right, Whiting ranch to left (would be other way around if coming down the path)
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Pic below is looking up footpath from blue dot on google maps. It is fairly steep, not wide, well lit but rarely travelled at night. I can't imagine forcing/dragging/pulling/carrying someone up or down this path.
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This is looking toward Whiting Ranch from the same blue dot on google map pic. The entrance is right in the middle. It is MUCH darker in that direction.
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*Sorry, don't know how to rotate the last 2 pics
 
Authorities end search in wilderness area for UPenn student who vanished in California
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...upenn-student-who-vanished-california-n835916

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University of Pennsylvania student still missing after last week's mysterious winter break disappearance in California
http://abcnews.go.com/US/university...eks-mysterious-winter-break/story?id=52208464

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Blaze Bernstein's parents using drones to help find missing UPenn student
http://abcnews.go.com/US/blaze-bern...-find-missing-upenn-student/story?id=52232836

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College kid left behind his belongings before disappearing
https://nypost.com/2018/01/08/college-kid-left-behind-his-belongings-before-disappearing/

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Jewish college student Blaze Bernstein, 19, goes missing in California
Teen did not take his keys, wallet, credit cards, and eyeglasses with him for late-night meeting with friend in Orange County park
https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-college-student-blaze-bernstein-19-goes-missing-in-california/

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Family and friends use drones in search for missing college student
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bernstein-search-20180108-story.html

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Search For Missing OC Teen Ends After 6 Days
Orange County Sheriff's Department said they will end a search for Blaze Bernstein, an Ivy League student who came home for the holidays.
https://patch.com/california/lakeforest-ca/search-missing-oc-teen-ends-after-6-days

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Frantic search underway for missing University of Pennsylvania student
http://abc7ny.com/frantic-search-underway-for-missing-college-student/2912099/

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Parents of missing college student speak out
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/parents-missing-college-student-speak-52206775

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Family launches frantic search for Pennsylvania college student missing in Orange County
http://abc7.com/family-launches-search-for-pa-college-student-missing-in-oc/2869043/

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Drone pilots search for clues on why student Blaze Bernstein vanished
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/...19-year-old-student-blake-bernstein-vanished/

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College student remains missing in Orange County as search nears 1-week mark
http://abc7.com/college-student-remains-missing-in-oc-as-search-nears-1-week-mark/2913586/

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Ivy-leaguer missing after he left parents’ home to meet friend
https://www.aol.com/article/news/20...he-left-parents-home-to-meet-friend/23326079/

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Efforts to find missing College sophomore Blaze Bernstein expand in Orange County, California
http://www.thedp.com/article/2018/0...upenn-penn-orange-county-student-philadelphia

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Parents speak out as search goes on for missing college student in California
https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/pare...on-for-missing-college-student-in-california/

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Blaze Bernstein: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
https://heavy.com/news/2018/01/blaze-bernstein-missing-found-facebook-photos-pennsylvania/

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Jewish college student Blaze Bernstein, 19, goes missing in California
https://www.jta.org/2018/01/08/news...blaze-bernstein-19-goes-missing-in-california
 
Orange County Sheriff's Department News Release: Body in Borego Park ID'd as Missing 19-year-old

Body found in Borrego Park ID’d as missing 19-year-oldLAKE FOREST, Ca. (Jan. 10, 2018) - The body of a 19-year-old man found in Borrego Park by OrangeCounty Sheriff’s investigators has been identified as missing person Blaze Bernstein.

Bernstein was last seen at about 11 p.m. on Jan. 2, and was reported missing by his family to Sheriff’s Department investigators on Jan. 3.Approximately 25 members of the Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue Team surveyed the park and adjacent wilderness area Whiting Ranch on Friday Jan. 5, Saturday, Jan. 6, and Sunday, Jan. 7, as investigators actively worked the case.

On Tuesday afternoon, at approximately 2 p.m., a search of the Foothill Ranch park was initiated by Sheriff’s investigators. Bernstein’s body was discovered in the brush surrounding the park.

This case is now being investigated as a homicide. An autopsy will be performed today. No additionalinformation regarding the cause of death or the condition of the body will be released at this time.

Sheriff’s investigators are actively following multiple leads, but no suspect is in custody.The investigation into this case is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the OrangeCounty Sheriff’s Department at 714-647-7000. Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Orange CountyCrime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.

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Map below courtesy of WS member acd562:



Here's a map I annotated of Borego Park and its surroundings.

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Document reveals insight on investigation into Blaze Bernstein’s death
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/...ego-park-case-being-investigated-as-homicide/

"According to the affidavit:

The friend, who attended Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana with Bernstein, told detectives that he spoke with him on SnapChat that night. He agreed to pick up Bernstein and they drove to the parking lot of a Hobby Lobby in Lake Forest to “hang out” and “catch up.”

He said Bernstein then told him they were going to meet up with another friend from high school, and they arrived at the Borrego Park parking area shortly before midnight on Jan. 2, a Tuesday. He said Blaze exited the vehicle and walked by himself into the park.

The friend said he waited for about an hour and tried to contact him on SnapChat. He said he then left at around 1 a.m. and drove to his girlfriend’s house in Tustin and then returned to the park at about 3:40 a.m. after Bernstein still had not responded. During one interview, the affidavit says, he said he did not know her last name.

The friend said Bernstein complained about his grades in school and “seemed depressed but never said anything about wanting to hurt himself.”

On Jan, 4, two days after the teenager disappeared, detectives spoke with the friend again at Borrego Park and noticed that his hands had several small scratches and abrasions. The friend said the scratches and abrasions were from a “fight club” that he was involved in.

Investigators also noticed what appeared to be “dirt under the fingernails” on both of the friend’s hands. They asked him how his hands got so dirty and the friend said he “fell into a dirt puddle” during the sparring session.

Detectives noticed that the friend was nervous and was “breathing heavy, talking fast and visibly shaking.”

At one point, the friend opened the doors to his rental car and allowed two detectives to look inside. The detectives noticed hiking and camping equipment in the rear of the vehicle, a large empty plastic bin on the backseat, and a black belt on the passenger seat floorboard.

The friend agreed to be further interviewed at the sheriff’s headquarters in Santa Ana, where his story “stayed fairly consistent.” But, the affidavit says, while he had told investigators that he went to his girlfriend’s home after he left Bernstein in the park, he said he could not remember her last name and did not know where she lived.

“On their way out of Sheriff’s Headquarters, (investigators) noticed every door (the friend) had to touch on the way out of the building he pulled his jacket over his hand to prevent his hand and fingers from touching any part of the doors he touched.”"
 
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Hundreds Gather to Mourn Ivy League College Student After His Body Is Found in O.C. Park
http://ktla.com/2018/01/10/hundreds...-student-after-his-body-is-found-in-o-c-park/

From the above link:

"Blaze was a brilliant, colorful and charismatic man who shined light on all of the lives of the people and communities he touched," Gideon Bernstein said. "Needless to say our family is devastated by the news. We — like so many of you around the world — loved Blaze, and we wanted nothing more than to seek his safe return."

Hundreds of people showed up to remember the slain college student at the vigil, which began around 6 p.m. and was held in the park where Bernstein was found dead.

In memory of the teen, the grieving family has set up the Blaze Bernstein Memorial Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation Orange County. The money will go to organizations that help children and family in needs, including the Orangewood Foundation, according to a post on the Facebook group "Help Us Remember Blaze Bernstein."
 
11 January 2018

Three Search Warrants Issued in Connection to The Death of Missing OC Teenager
- NBC4 (includes video report)

Three search warrants have been issued in connection to the death of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, whose body was found Tuesday, Jan. 9 after an extensive search through Borrego Park.

Detectives interviewed a friend of Bernstein, who was one of the last persons to see him alive. The friend said he left the park an hour after meeting up with the victim to visit his girlfriend in Tustin, but he could not recall her last name or address. He alleged he returned to the park several hours later but could not find Bernstein.


"We thank God for this hard rain that exposed his grave," Bernstein&#8217;s grandfather said before he choked back tears.
Sheriffs said Bernstein&#8217;s body was found in brush near Foothill Ranch Park. Although officials would not say whether he was buried or not, they confirmed that Tuesday&#8217;s storm helped find his body. Officials did not comment on the cause of death.




 
Investigators are testing evidence for DNA in the killing of an Orange County man - LA Times

Detectives investigating the killing of a 19-year-old Ivy League student whose body was found in an Orange County park are running forensic evidence gathered at the scene for DNA to help identify a potential suspect, law enforcement sources said Thursday.

A search warrant affidavit in connection with the investigation of Blaze Bernstein’s homicide has also raised questions about the account of a friend who was the last person to see the University of Pennsylvania student....

The warrant served at a Newport Beach home was sealed from public view Wednesday, Orange County court officials said. Carrie Braun, a Sheriff's Department spokeswoman, said detectives have obtained three search warrants in connection with the investigation.

She said the department was not identifying a person of interest and would not discuss the evidence cited in the search warrant affidavit. Braun declined to release any details of an autopsy conducted Wednesday. Authorities have not released information about how Bernstein was killed.

Two sources familiar with the investigation said that DNA evidence from Bernstein's body and the crime scene was being given a rapid examination for potential suspects. Bernstein was on winter break from college and visiting his parents in Lake Forest when he disappeared.


 
Crime lab expedites blood evidence in the Blaze Bernstein case -- OC Register

Crime-lab technicians on Thursday were fast-tracking DNA tests on blood evidence gathered in the homicide case of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, a University of Pennsylvania sophomore who disappeared Jan. 2 while in Lake Forest on winter break.

Bernstein’s body was found Tuesday near Borrego Park close to where he was reported missing a week earlier. Searchers had combed the park for days, but recent rains allowed the body to be more readily seen by investigators, Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, has said.
 
High school friend arrested in case of Blaze Bernstein -- OC Register

A friend of slain pre-med student Blaze Bernstein was arrested Friday afternoon in connection with the death of the University of Pennsylvania sophomore, whose body was found near a Foothill Ranch park on Tuesday, a week after the 19-year-old disappeared.

Samuel Woodward, 21, was taken into custody Friday shortly after leaving his home in Newport Beach, according to a source with knowledge of the case. Woodward had told homicide investigators that he drove Bernstein to Borrego Ranch Park on Jan. 2, the night Bernstein disappeared.


Around 1:15 p.m., two sheriff&#8217;s investigators brought the handcuffed man to the Orange County Jail. He had on a sweatshirt that read, &#8220;Keep the peace.&#8221;


The suspect and the arrested man had attended the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana at the same time at one point.


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"Perp Walk" Video posted to Greg Lee's (ABC-7) Twitter:

https://twitter.com/abc7greg/status/951931466224582656
 

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Samuel Woodward: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know -- Heavy.com

Inconsistencies in the story of Woodward led authorities to focus on Woodward in the death, said Barnes.
“Our investigators have identified a suspect in this case and we have brought him into custody,” he confirmed, identifying the suspect as Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, of Newport Beach. According to Barnes, investigators believe that Woodward and Barnes drove “to many locations before arriving at the park.”

The specific details of what happened at the park are part of the final investigation. No details will be shared regarding the condition of the body and cause of death until the investigation is concluded, said Barnes.


“Woodward had told homicide investigators that he drove Bernstein to Borrego Ranch Park on Jan. 2, the night Bernstein disappeared,” the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The Orange County Register also confirmed the name.


The Daily News added that Bernstein and Woodward attended high school together, reporting, “Bernstein and the arrested man had attended the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana at the same time at one point.”


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Update: Authorities speak out on the suspect arrested in homicide of Penn student - The DP


His mother, Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, told the DP that Bernstein already had items packed up to return to campus the night he went missing.


The student had also just been elected to serve as the managing editor of Penn Appétit, a food publication at Penn, and had spent time over winter break brainstorming editorial visions and strategies to implement this coming year for the magazine. Bernstein's father said he found these notes and sent them to the executive director, Wharton sophomore Rachel Prokupek, to use this coming year.


A candlelight vigil was held at the Kelly Writers House on Jan. 10 for those close to Blaze, though it was open to all students. The following day, University administrators held a support session in Houston Hall.

Bernstein's parents said they expect to come to campus sometime in the future to hold a larger memorial to honor their son with members of the Penn community.

Friend arrested in connection with Blaze Bernstein homicide investigation - KTLA (includes video)


Based on the inconsistencies in their interviews with Woodward, as well as DNA evidence, authorities served search warrants and arrested him in connection with the homicide.


Investigators said that Woodward had been "cooperative" during the investigation into the missing person's case, but he subsequently requested an attorney after being taken into custody.


Though Woodward told authorities that Bernstein was meeting a third person at the park, investigators do not believe anyone else was involved in the crime.


Undersheriff Barnes said investigators believe Woodward picked up Bernstein at home, the two drove around the neighborhood before arriving at Borrego Park. Barnes would not go into detail about how or when Bernstein died.


"As a parent myself, I put myself in the shoes of the Bernsteins, but cannot imagine the grief they must now face," Barnes said.




 

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