The body of a young girl was found near an equestrian walking trail in Hacienda Heights, California, authorities said Wednesday. Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies said the girl's body, which was in a black duffel bag, was likely dumped late Sunday evening. County workers found the body Tuesday morning while performing maintenance work on the trail. Authorities pronounced the girl, who investigators think was between 8 and 13 years old, dead at the scene. She has not been identified. The black girl was about 4-feet-5 and weighed about 55 pounds, Lt. Scott Hoglund said at a news conference Wednesday. "Investigators did not observe any obvious signs of trauma to the victim’s body," Hoglund said. "At this time, this incident is being ruled as a suspicious death investigation." An autopsy will be completed by the county's medical examiner to determine the cause of death. A composite sketch released by the department showed the girl in the clothes she was found in: a long-sleeved pink shirt that said "future princess hero" and gray pants with pandas on them. Investigators are working to identify a young girl who was found dead on the side of a trail in Hacienda Heights, California. Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Authorities have not been able to identify the girl using databases from missing children organizations and the Department of Child Services. Hoglund said flyers with the sketch will also be given to school districts. Hoglund asked anyone who may have been in the area and seen suspicious activity to contact the sheriff's office. “We are looking for any lead. If you wish to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers is a great option - you can remain anonymous and report what you may know," Hoglund said. Hacienda Heights is a suburb in Los Angeles County, 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.<doc-sep>Los Angeles authorities are asking the public to help identify the young girl. Los Angeles authorities are desperate for answers after the body of an unidentified girl was found in a duffel bag. The girl's body was partially inside a black duffel bag when she was discovered by county workers Tuesday near an equestrian trail in Hacienda Heights, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Scott Hoglund said. The girl was believed to be between the ages of 8 and 13, according to the sheriff's department. There were no obvious signs of trauma, Hoglund said, and a motive is unknown. Balloons, posters, flowers, stuffed animals and candles were left by mourners who sang and shed tears for the unnamed girl at a vigil Thursday night. Church leaders and politicians were among the dozens there, reported ABC Los Angeles station KABC. Former FBI agent and ABC News contributor Steve Gomez, who lives in the Hacienda Heights area but is not involved in the investigation, said residents are in shock. Gomez added that, based on his experience, the girl likely did not live in the area. "She's not immediately recognizable to anybody," Gomez said Thursday. "What it leads me to believe is that this child is probably from an area not immediately near Hacienda Heights. She's probably from someplace outside of the general Los Angeles area, maybe even another state." The sheriff's office said Thursday that the Hacienda Heights victim is not a 13-year-old girl who is missing from nearby Lancaster, California; investigators asked for the public's help in both cases. Gomez also noted the significance of where the young girl's body was placed. Hacienda Heights, a suburban community east of Los Angeles, is home to wilderness, disguising shrubbery and massive canyons, Gomez said. But the body was left near an equestrian and hiking trail frequented by county workers. Investigators will spare no efforts to find out what happened. "Whoever left the body, they were probably in a rush -- because they clearly didn't place the body in a place that would make it more difficult to find," he said. "It would be very difficult to find a body if they put it in the right place where there's all the brush and shrubbery." Authorities have not determined if the girl was dead before being placed in the bag, Hoglund said. Without answers from the public, the autopsy and the forensics in this case "will be even more important than ever," Gomez said. Investigators are likely combing surveillance video from local businesses -- but may still hit a wall because the area has many small, winding roads without stores, Gomez said. An autopsy will be conducted to determine cause of death, Hoglund said Wednesday. “It’s a horrible tragic case our investigators are working diligently on to solve,” Hoglund said Wednesday. Sheriff Alex Villanueva added, “Investigators will spare no efforts to find out what happened.” Authorities described the girl as black, standing at 4 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 55 pounds. She was not wearing shoes. Anyone with information is asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.<doc-sep>The girl’s body was found March 5 around 10 a.m. by workers with Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation. The bag with her remains lay in the brush a short distance from the head of a popular trail through the hills. Police said they weren’t sure whether the bag had been tossed from the trail or pushed off the road above the embankment, but they said it had been there for no more than two days.<doc-sep>While her identity remains a mystery, a makeshift memorial sprouted up Thursday on a popular equestrian trail to a young girl whose lifeless body was found stuffed into a black duffel bag in the light brush. “Rest in Heaven Princess” read one day-glo pink sign adorning the fence at the entrance of the Hacienda Heights trail, a seeming reference to the words “Future Princess Hero” emblazoned on the pink shirt the girl was wearing. Stuffed toy animals, heart balloons, ribbons and bouquets of flowers covered the chain-link fence. “It absolutely breaks my heart. I have a beautiful princess at home,” said Valerie Wilson, one of many neighbors and strangers who have been affected emotionally by the victim’s enigmatic story. “We just wanted to come and pay our respects. We live close in the community and we just cannot get over it. We pray for her soul and we are sure she is in a great place now: No pain. No suffering.” As to whoever is responsible, she added, “They need to look inside … they need to turn themselves in.” Advertisement A dozen miles along the Pomona Freeway, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide detectives at their offices are digging through an avalanche of tips after Sheriff Alex Villaneuva appealed for the public’s help in identifying the small-framed black girl discovered by a park worker Tuesday morning. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office took a step toward unraveling one of the mysteries surrounding the 55-pound girl by conducting an autopsy Thursday. With no obvious signs of trauma, detectives are turning to the medical examiners for answers. The results, however, are being kept under wraps by detectives, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said. Sally Edwards, 50, from Pico Rivera, prays at the memorial in Hacienda Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Several sources said investigators are also seeking forensic evidence including any other person’s DNA from the clothes and bag that could identify who dumped the child’s body. Such DNA could be run through the state DNA database for a match or even a familial match. They are also seeking camera footage from nearby shopping areas. Leading the investigation are Dets. Louie Aguilera and Marc Boisvert, who are no strangers to exploring cases of child deaths. It was they who cracked the case of the South Pasadena boy killed by his father two years ago. The father eventually confessed and led them to the child’s body near Lake Cachuma. In Hacienda Heights they have a body and not much else. The girl, age 8 to 13 and about 4 feet, 5 inches tall, was found with her head and torso slightly protruding from the black bag. She hadn’t been there long — less than 48 hours — before she was discovered. About 100 people attended a candlelight vigil to remember the child near the site Thursday evening. “I hope people can make it just to light a candle and say a prayer for answers and justice,” an organizer said before the event. Advertisement The girl whose body was found in Hacienda Heights was 8 to 13 years old, about 4 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 55 pounds, authorities said. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) “It’s a sad moment for the department, for the community, and we’re going to do our best to figure out” what happened to the girl, Villanueva said Wednesday as he stood next to a sketch of the child. Sheriff’s officials on Thursday said there was no link between the dead girl and a 13-year-old girl from Lancaster who went missing last month. Homicide investigators carefully rechecked with those who had provided information on the missing girl — identified as Skylar Mannie — and were certain that the two cases are not related, according to Nicole Nishida, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman. Advertisement Skylar is described as 5-foot-5 and 130 pounds, a foot taller and more than twice the weight of the girl found on the Hacienda Heights trail. The dead girl was found wearing black and white loungewear pants with pandas, in addition to the pink shirt, but no shoes. The trail is a short drive into the hills south of the Pomona Freeway. The body was found at the bottom of an embankment just east of the 3400 block of Hacienda Boulevard. Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Hoglund said someone probably saw something between late Sunday afternoon and Tuesday morning when her body was found. Advertisement Hoglund said the body was found about 120 yards from the beginning of the trail. He said his detectives didn’t know whether the bag was left at that spot or pushed off the embankment. A department sketch artist produced a rendering of the girl in the hope someone would recognize her. Investigators have reached out to the Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services, missing-child groups and school districts across the region, Hoglund said. A 2016 L.A. Times examination of child homicides found there were more than 400 since Jan. 1, 2000, across Los Angeles County. Many of the children were victims of abuse or violence in their homes, and most died at the homes of parents or guardians. Advertisement Dan Scott, a retired L.A. County Sheriff’s sergeant who was involved in dozens of child abuse and death investigations, said the circumstances in this one were unusual. “It is extremely rare to see a child’s body dumped,” he said. “I cannot recall one in recent years in the region.” Scott said that even when a relative killed a child, the attacker often buried or concealed the body. richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @lacrimes<doc-sep>
The girl’s body was bent into a black roll-away duffel bag, her head and torso slightly protruding. She was dumped onto an embankment along a popular equestrian trail in light brush. She hadn’t been there long — less than 48 hours — before a worker for L.A. County Parks and Recreation clearing the landscape on the Hacienda Heights trail uncovered the girl’s remains Tuesday morning. Her tiny body was clad in a pink long-sleeve shirt proclaiming “Future Princess Hero.” “It’s a sad moment for the department, for the community, and we’re going to do our best to figure out” what happened to the girl, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday as he stood next to a sketch of the child. Investigators are still working to determine the identity of the child and the cause of death. “It is a suspicious death investigation. There were no obvious signs of trauma,” Sheriff’s Homicide Lt. Scott Hoglund said. “We don’t have any idea who this child is.” An autopsy is slated in the next few days, he said. The girl was black, between 8 and 13 years of age, 4 feet 5 inches tall, and weighed just 55 pounds. He said there were no visible signs of malnutrition or mistreatment. Aside from the pink shirt, she wore black and white loungewear pants but no shoes. The trail is a short drive into the hills south of the Pomona Freeway. The body was found at the bottom of an embankment just east of the 3400 block of Hacienda Boulevard. Hoglund said someone likely saw something between late Sunday afternoon and Tuesday morning when her body was found. “There is a turnout on Hacienda Boulevard just south of Colima Road,” he said. Hoglund said the body was found about 120 yards from the beginning of the trail. He said his detectives don’t know if the bag was left at that spot or pushed off the embankment. “At this point, we don’t have any leads,” Hoglund said. “We are looking for any type of witnesses that may have been traveling in that area, that may have seen a vehicle pulled over to the side. We are looking for any lead.” A department sketch artist produced a rendition of the girl in the hope someone will recognize her. Investigators have reached out to the Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services, missing child groups and school districts across the region, Hoglund said. A 2016 Los Angeles Times examination of child homicides found that there were more than 400 since Jan.1, 2000 across Los Angeles County. Many of the children were victims of abuse or violence in their homes, and most died at the homes of parents or guardians. Dan Scott, a retired L.A. County Sheriff’s sergeant who was involved in dozens of child abuse and death investigations, said the circumstances in this one are unusual. “It is extremely rare to see a child’s body dumped,” he said. “I cannot recall one in recent years in the region.” Scott said that even when a relative kills a child, the attacker often buries or conceals the body. Calling the child’s death a horrible tragedy, Hoglund said, “these are hardest cases to handle.” He said it is unclear whether the girl was dead or alive when she was squeezed into the bag. Hoglund would not say whether forensic technicians recovered any fingerprints or DNA from the bag that might give clues to the child’s identity or the person who dumped the bag. Investigators on Wednesday sealed coroner’s records in the investigation from public review. richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @lacrimes