Officials with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office have been trying to find the family of a man whose remains were found March 15 in a Gorman drainage ditch.

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On July 15, officials identified the remains of a body found four months earlier in the wake of the Pine Fire.

Related: Possible Gorman Murder Investigated By Sheriff’s Department Detectives

 The body was identified through what’s known as circumstantial identification, according to a coroner’s official who was not authorized to talk to media.

“They’ve been looking at some missing persons with dental records and sent some bone missing with DNA,” said Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, back in April. “So we’re still trying to find out who it is.”

Those attempts reportedly have been unsuccessful thus far.

The body was found in a ravine off Ridge Route Road and Highway 138, but detectives quickly determined the remains were part of a crime scene, and the victim was not killed in the Pine Fire, which burned about 150 acres of Gorman in March.  

Detectives believe foul play was involved in the death of John Doe No. 59, the name given to the man until he was identified, which is the name he’ll be referred to as publicly by the Coroner’s Office until the man’s family is notified.

The victim’s body has been at the location for an extended period of time, possibly up to four years, Sheriff’s Department officials.

The cause of death was deferred, according to officials, which means, it was not released in reports available to coroner’s officials.

Detectives Shonka and Holston of the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau are investigating the suspected murder for John Doe No. 59.

They could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

No new leads have been reported through the Nixle service, which is used by the Sheriff’s Department to send out crime alerts and community messages.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

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