Kidnap Victim Found Shot to Death in Car
CASTAIC — A man who told his family he had been kidnapped was found shot to death Thursday inside a car on a remote road in Castaic, authorities said.
Authorities declined to comment on the motive for the crime.
The 22-year-old victim, an Anaheim man, was discovered by a passerby on Ridge Route Road, about three miles north of Lake Hughes Road, said Deputy Roberta Granek of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The passerby saw the car on Wednesday, and assumed the occupant was sleeping. When he saw the car once again about 9 a.m. Thursday at the same location, he approached the vehicle, saw the body inside, and called authorities.
The victim had been shot once in the upper body, said Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Peavy.
The last time the victim was seen was about 7 p.m. Tuesday at a liquor store in Anaheim. Peavy said the man made a call to his family and told them he had been kidnapped. The family then called Anaheim police.
“We are reasonably sure this person was kidnapped,†Peavy said.
The car was owned by someone other than the victim, police said.
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