Human Remains Found Near Scorched Antelope Valley Home

LITTLEROCK (CBSLA) – Remains found near a burned, abandoned home in the Antelope Valley community of Littlerock Thursday have been determined to be human.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed to CBS2 Friday that the remains found on a property in the 30900 block of 106th Street were in fact human. Detectives are not sure, however, if the bones belong to one or more people. The victim or victims have not yet been identified.

Investigators and search dogs with the Sheriff's Department and L.A. County coroner's office had been on the property digging and combing for evidence all afternoon and evening Thursday.

Along with a burned out home, the property also had several cars, tires and burned debris.

Authorities did disclose what brought them out to search the property initially, or where exactly on the property the remains were found. Detectives have been guarded about their findings. The coroner's office has even put a security hold on to carefully monitor what information is released.

One neighbor told CBS2 that authorities raided the property a few weeks ago.

"We saw a lot of police cars and different vehicles that drove up to that house," neighbor Louise Whitt said. "It was all very hush, hush, at the time we couldn't find out what was going on at all."

Another neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told CBS2 that a couple months ago, expensive items such as boats, cars and jet skis started showing up on the property.

Meanwhile, the sheriff's department has not disclosed if the remains could be linked to a high-profile missing persons case from January 2018 in Littlerock in which three friends, two men and a woman, suddenly disappeared.

Jose Paez, 66, Cuauhtemoc Lara, 39, and Julieta Arvizu, 49, were last seen on Jan. 14, 2018. Lara and Arvizu lived together – at a residence about eight miles from where the human remains were found -- and Paez was staying with them. None of them were related.