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News

Three Bodies, Likely Those of Missing Teen Hikers, Found Off Of Angeles Crest Highway

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Daniel Gamboa, Kasey Vance and Samantha Ornelas. (Courtesy of Fontana Police)
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The bodies of three individuals—likely a trio of Fontana teens who had gone missing over the weekend—were found Monday evening in the wreckage of a white pickup truck that had gone over the side of Angeles Crest Highway north of Altadena. Daniel Gamboa, 19, Kasey Vance, 18 and Samantha Ornelas, 17, were last seen on Saturday, when they had told family friends they were going hiking in Angeles National Forest.

A Sheriff's Department representative told LAist that Sheriff's deputies doing an aerial search first spotted the vehicle over the cliff just after 5 p.m. The truck, which was found in a deep ravine a few miles from the turnoff to Mount Wilson, matches the license plate of the vehicle used by the three missing teens, according to KTLA.

Sheriff's deputies, along with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, had been searching for the teens all day. Fontana Police had also been searching for the missing teens. Efforts are currently underway to retrieve the bodies from the mountainous area and positively identify them, according to City News Service. The L.A. Times reports that the bodies will likely not be formally identified until Tuesday morning.

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