This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Last week, the family of 67-year-old David Lavau located their loved one alive and surviving on bugs and leaves at the base of a ravine in Castaic. His vehicle had plunged off a mountain road a week earlier, and was located near a second vehicle that contained the body of a deceased male. Now authorities are hoping to identify the body, and that man's relatives believe he is missing Palms resident Melvin Gelfand.Following the discovery of Lavau and his vehicle, authorities first had to rule out that the survivor had not been involved in an accident along with the second vehicle. However, the California Highway Patrol says the second vehicle crashed "long before" September 23, when Lavau's car went down the hillside.
The second vehicle belongs to the 88-year-old Gelfand, who was last seen on September 14th. His daughter "has said she is certain the body is that of her father," according to the Daily Breeze.
