ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST — Human remains found in a shallow grave in the Angeles National Forest earlier this month have been identified as those of a missing Glendale man who was beaten to death.
The body found Jan. 19 near mile marker 2.72 of Big Tujunga Canyon Road was that of Nicholas Carter, 25, of Glendale, Lt. Mike Rosson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said Wednesday.
An autopsy determined he had been beaten to death, the lieutenant added.
“We’re treating it as a homicide,” Rosson said.
Carter went missing sometime between Jan. 4 and 7, officials added.
No information regarding a suspect or motive in the slaying was available, and nothing detectives found in the man’s background indicated a reason someone would want him dead, Rosson said.
“He looks like a pretty normal person who had a job,” the lieutenant said.
Detective unearthed Carter’s remains after returning to the site of a Jan. 8 excavation.
A hiker had discovered what appeared to be a shallow grave with streaks of blood nearby, Rosson said.
Inside the grave, only a bag of animal remains was found, sheriff’s officials said.
But detective returned to the area Jan. 19 after tests indicated animal remains were not the only thing in the area.
“Once we confirmed that the blood in the area was human, we felt we needed to go back there,” Rosson said.
Carter’s remains were found several hundred yards from the site of the initial shallow grave.
It appeared he had been dragged past the site of the first grave, leaving a blood trail, though the animal remains were not believed to be related to the slaying, Rosson said.