Coroner Seeks to ID Skeleton in Chimney

Los Angeles County coroner officials have released a sketch of a teenage boy whose skeletal remains were found in the chimney of a vacant South Los Angeles building in March.

Authorities are asking for the public’s help in identifying the boy, whom officials have termed John Doe 47. He was discovered in an abandoned halfway house at 101 W. 89th St., said coroner investigator Daniel Machian.

After several months of examination, a forensic artist was able to compile a sketch, Machian said.

Coroner officials believe the boy was an African American between 11 and 17 years old and 5 feet 1 to 5 feet 3. The boy was wearing jeans, white briefs and a white T-shirt -- Fruit of the Loom brand.

The body had been in the chimney for about two years, officials said.

Investigators said that the cause of death was still undetermined but that the boy died in the chimney after apparently becoming stuck.

The remains were discovered March 24 by an 11-year-old girl retrieving a soccer ball on the roof of the empty building when she peered down its chimney stack and saw a human skull.

According to the coroner’s office, about 30 sets of bones are found annually.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the coroner’s office at (323) 343-0754.