Authorities also filed two more cases under seal against juvenile defendants in federal court. Gerardo Alvarado and Bryan Alberto Ordones used a fake Facebook profile, purporting to belong to a girl, to lure another alleged victim to Angeles National Forest, according to the indictment. Forest Has Long History as Place for Hiding Bodies - Los Angeles Times Angeles National Forest - Home - US Forest Service "This investigation has been an unqualified success," Hanna said. Now, former Raiderette Linda Sobek has suffered the same fate. In June 2017, a man identified in the indictment as E.H. was killed with a machete and a knife. Since 2005, law enforcement officials have estimated its membership in the U.S. around 10,000 members, contradicting suggestions that it has grown in the U.S. in recent years, the report said. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. LOS ANGELES - An investigation by federal and local authorities has resulted in a federal racketeering case that charges 22 people linked to the MS-13 transnational gang, most of whom allegedly participated in a series of murders, including several slayings in which victims were hacked to death with machetes in the Angeles National Forest. Authorities say Kevin Wolfe Pochter shot and killed Dean Ron. ( Members of MS-13 subset charged in brutal Los Angeles murders A locked padlock Multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News that investigators think the number of killings connected to the gang could be much higher than those detailed in the indictment. The Angeles National Forest is an urban national forest in the center of an ever-changing population and provides a place for surrounding communities to experience solitude, quiet, and enjoy unique recreation opportunities. Our mission is to provide safe, efficient and economical fire management while sustaining, protecting and restoring ecosystems. We were hiking and found a half dug hole with a Pip-boy at the head of it, and realized there was a dead dog in . MS-13 is a dead end, and it shouldnt be a part of your decision-making process.. Among the seven murders at the center of the 12-count indictment was the killing of an individual identified as "J.S.," who federal prosecutors said was choked and dismembered in March 2017 for crossing out MS-13 graffiti. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Winter storms ease drought conditions in California, report shows, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Calmes: Heres what we should do about Marjorie Taylor Greene, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Best coffee city in the world? ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST >> Coroner's officials have confirmed that two scorched bodies found in the wake of the 5,400-acre San Gabriel Complex fire in the Angeles National Forest north of Azusa . *Project Activity Levels (PALs) determine which activities are allowed each day on national forest lands. The eight LASD search and rescue teams also operate in the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Susanna Mountains, Antelope Valley . Victims of drug deals gone awry, romances gone sour and robberies turned deadly have also ended up in the giant Angeles National Forest above Los Angeles. Authorities worked Wednesday to recover the bodies of what are believed to be two missing teenagers in the Angeles National Forest. Angeles National Forest - News & Events When the two children did not return there was a massive search launched of the area by a joint force of police and Navy personnel, as well as hundreds of volunteers, who scoured the wilderness looking for any sign of them, but after days of searching they were only able to recover Brendas bicycle and Donalds jacket, which were found near Morris Dam, around a quarter-mile away from where they had last been seen. 701 N. Santa Anita Ave. The gang members used social media, mostly Facebook Messenger, to orchestrate assaults, post gang signs and even to plot murders, prosecutors said. The Angeles National Forest will end its forest closure order tonight at 11:59 pm, a week past the expiration of the California regional closure. While the indictment focuses on murders committed to increase the gangs membership, expand the gangs power and intimidate outsiders, the RICO charge also alleges drug-trafficking activities, including the sale of narcotics to the Fulton clique in Maryland. The indictment included charges for six of the cliques suspected killings since 2017. Your forest has a unique Mediterranean ecosystem full of wildlife, flora, and much more! There are places in this world which seem to harbor ominous secrets and reverberate with the echoes of a dark history. U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said the. Nine more alleged MS-13 gang members and associates have been charged in a case involving 11 slayings, including five in which the victims were hacked to death in the Angeles National Forest,. Other Southern . Beck said the gang was not among the five most active in the city, but stressed he still considered them a threat. The only possible clue in the case came 2 weeks after the inexplicable vanishing, when an eerie anonymous letter arrived at the Bowman family home claiming that the boy was still alive and in the company of an unidentified adult male, and yet another letter would say that he was living in Oklahoma, but it is unclear if these were genuine leads or not, and they ultimately led absolutely nowhere. Sixteen of. Angeles National Forest | Crime Scene - InsideSoCal.com "The rival gang member was abducted, choked, and driven to a remote location in the Angeles National Forest, where six defendants hacked him to death with a machete," Hanna said. 312 North Spring Street Sixteen of the 22 people indicted are charged in connection with those six slayings, which authorities called so heinous, cruel or depraved that the defendants are eligible for the death penalty. On March 6, 2017, according to the indictment, the rival gang member was abducted, choked, and driven to a remote location in the Angeles National Forest, where six people attacked him with a machete. Or did these kids just get lost and succumb to the elements and the many natural perils of the area? MS-13 was formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s and has grown internationally to tens of thousands of individuals in at least 10 states and several Central American countries, most notably El Salvador, according to the DOJ. The recently designated national monument covers 342,177 acres of the Angeles National Forest and 4,002 acres of neighboring San Bernardino National Forest. The victim was dismembered, and his body parts were thrown into a canyon after one of the defendants allegedly cut the heart out of the victims body. One defendant in that case Sergio Alexander Galindo, also known as Killer remains a fugitive. The 78-page indictment charges all but one of the 22 defendants with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Arcadia, CA 91006 Nineteen of the 22 defendants "are in the country illegally," he said, two are U.S. citizens and one is a lawful permanent resident. Hiker found safe in Angeles National Forest after sending photo while When Government Agencies Secretly Work in the Field of the Supernatural and the Occult, About That Time Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Supposedly Saw Aliens on the Moon. Feds charge 22 linked to MS-13 slayings, racketeering in Los Angeles Read More Your national forests hold the evidence of more than 10,000 years of human history. 9 more tied to MS-13 killings where some victims were hacked up in Edwards death was not the end of the investigation for the many people, both with the police department and independent researchers, who firmly believe in light of the evidence that he was responsible for the mysterious vanishings of Howell, Baker, Bowman, and Kremer, and they continue to research it. The Fulton clique is accused of primarily operating from Whitsett Sports Park in Valley Glen, the location of one of the other murders outlined in the indictment, the Jan. 14 killing of a homeless man. Another victim, identified in court papers as J.S., was believed by the Fulton clique to be a rival gang member whod crossed out the cliques graffiti. In 2016, the Fulton clique decided to break from MS-13s traditional program in Los Angeles in favor of a traditional Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha program, the new indictment reads. Serving the areas of: City of San Dimas, Unincorporated Communities of: Covina, Azusa, Glendora, La Verne, Claremont, Azusa Canyon, Mount Baldy, Angeles National Forest (State Route 39). Sprawled out within Los Angeles County, in southern California, are the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, and within this vast expanse of wilderness, not far from the urban jungle of nearby Los Angeles, lies the Angeles National Forest. Named in the indictment are German Arnulfo Cruz Hernandez; Angel Amadeo Guzman; Ever Joel Morales; Fernando Garcia Parada; Jose Baquiax Alvarez; Kevin Villalta Gomez; Kevin Arteaga; Edgard Velasquez; Walter Chavez Larin; Yefri Alexander Revelo; Wilfredo Vides; Gerardo Alvarado; Roberto Carlos Mendez Cruz; Bryan Alberto Ordones; Roberto Alejandro Corado Ortiz; Edwin Isaac Mendez; Josue Balmore Flores Castro; Luis Arturo Gonzalez; Edwin Martinez; Steven Emmanuel Linares; Marco Antonio Ramos; and Erick Eduardo Rosales Arias. 43.8k members in the socalhiking community. 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