SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — California Highway Patrol investigators alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation found human remains on a Southcrest property early Tuesday morning, according to the San Diego Police Department. The find was a result of a search warrant for 3443 Newton Avenue.
“You always see it on the news or the TV, but you never expect it to be right next to you,” said a woman, who asked to remain anonymous, who’s lived next door for the last seven years.
According to San Diego Police, CHP investigators developed information that led them to believe human remains were on that property.
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It’s located at the end of the street on the south side of Newton Avenue, which is near where the I-5 and I-15 freeways intersect.
CHP and the FBI conducted a search of the home and located the remains. San Diego Police Cold Case/Missing Persons detectives and the San Diego County District’s Attorneys Office, which are leading the joint investigation, were both on hand to assist.
ABC 10News arrived on scene soon after the discovery, with Sky 10 camera flying above.
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Witnesses tell our crew that authorities arrived as early as 7 a.m.
However, some who live in the area said they were on high alert a couple days before, after seeing what they described as “suspicious vehicles” staking out the area since Sunday.
“We were like, okay, that’s very alarming. It’s very weird,” said Arturo Gonzalez, who lives in the area and is a community activist. “We think, maybe it’s some ICE agents camping out. When we came to the scene, we were immediately informed by them they were CHP and FBI.”
Gonzalez said the people who currently live in the home moved in about a year ago.
Other neighbors said a previous homeowner lived there for several years and did not let people over to the side of the house were investigators appeared to focus their search.
One day before the search was executed and the remains were found, Gonzalez said investigators gave the current residents a stipend to spend the next few nights in a hotel.
“They were surprised, but, at the same time, they’d seen something like this possibly coming due to the fact that there were cops coming to their house throughout the year, looking for someone specific when no one lives there but them and they’re new tenants,” Gonzalez said.
As far as where exactly the remains were found around the property, how many were discovered, how long they’ve been there and who they belong to — those are questions that remain unanswered.
Detectives from SDPD will be working with the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office to find the identity of the person and the cause of death.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the San Diego Police Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.