Authorities on Friday identified two men whose remains were found buried on a Lancaster property during a missing persons investigation, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
The men were identified as Edward Perez, 46, and Ricky Phillips, 61. Both were found Sept. 29 at the property near 50th Street and Avenue F, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Their causes and manners of death remain under investigation.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said deputies arrived after 8 a.m. on Tuesday as part of a search connected to a missing persons case.
“Today at the scene we’ve located human remains. At this point, it has become an active homicide investigation,” Lt. Chris Oakley of the department’s Homicide Bureau said the bodies were discovered.
The property encompasses a large area covered with debris, vehicles and mobile homes, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Investigators, assisted by cadaver dogs, searched the property and discovered two sets of buried human remains.
The Sheriff’s Department’s Missing Persons Unit had issued a missing person bulletin for Phillips on Sept. 11. Authorities said he had last been seen Aug. 30 in the 44900 block of 10th Street West in Lancaster.
Investigators have not disclosed whether there was any connection, if any, between the two men.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.