Unidentified Persons

It has been 50 years since the Nazi death camps were liberated, and Rabbi Yakov R. Hilsenrath is worried that time is running out to memorialize the unidentified Jews who died in them. Only about half the 6 million Jews believed to have been killed in the Holocaust are listed by name in the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem. Now, the New Jersey rabbi is searching for information on the remaining 3 million before memories of families and friends fade.

Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives asked the public's help Wednesday in identifying a woman whose remains were found inside a cardboard box in the Stevenson Ranch area west of Santa Clarita. The woman was described as white or Hispanic, 60 to 70 years old, about 5 feet tall and around 150 pounds with light brown or blond hair, said Deputy Brian Jones of the sheriff's headquarters bureau. The coroner has been unable to determine the cause of death after an autopsy, Jones said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide detectives asked for public help Wednesday in identifying a woman whose remains were found last week in a cardboard box west of the Golden State Freeway. The woman was white, perhaps Latina, 60 to 70 years old, 5 to 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighed about 150 pounds and had light brown or blond hair, Deputy Brian Jones said. Jones said the coroner's office has been unable to determine the cause of death.

Los Angeles County sheriff's officials are seeking the public's help to identify a young woman whose charred body was found inside the trunk of a burning Cadillac that was reported stolen in Anaheim. A motorist spotted the late-model car with the trunk on fire about 11 p.m. Wednesday in the Rancho Dominguez area. The car was parked in an industrial area in the 19800 block of Santa Fe Avenue near the Long Beach Freeway and Del Amo Boulevard, sheriff's spokeswoman Diane Hecht said.

Orange County coroner's officials are asking for the public's help in identifying a man who was stabbed to death two weeks ago in Santa Ana. A passerby found the man at Fiesta Marketplace in downtown Santa Ana in the early morning hours of Sept. 7. He was a Latino, 25 to 32 years old, 5-feet-8 1/2 and 128 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

The charred body found near Silverado Canyon early Monday was identified as Jason Derek Stinnett, 25, of Garden Grove, sheriff's detectives said. Through dental records, the coroner's office identified Stinnett as the victim whose body was discovered in the hills north of Limestone Canyon Regional Park near Black Star Canyon Road, Lt. Ron Wilkerson said. Stinnett, an unemployed truck driver, died of a gunshot wound to the chest, Wilkerson said.

Sheriff's deputies Wednesday identified the body of a man found on Lopez Canyon Road last week as that of 28-year-old Salvador Cortez of Compton. Cortez was found shot to death in the 12000 block of Lopez Canyon Road on Aug. 9, Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy Carrie Stuart said. An investigation into the slaying is continuing.

A woman walking her dog along a dirt road early Wednesday found the body of a teen-ager who appeared to have suffered a head injury, authorities said. The boy, who has not been identified, was lying in a ditch 40 feet south of Foothill Drive east of La Cuesta Drive when the woman found him at 7 a.m., according to sheriff's Lt. Dan Martini. She then flagged down a passing motorist and used the driver's cellular phone to call the Sheriff's Department.

Clothing containing the bones of an unidentified man was discovered by hunters early Wednesday morning in Angeles National Forest, but authorities said they have no idea how or when the man died. The hunters found the remains near the intersection of Templin Highway and Ridge Route Road, a brush-covered mountain area several miles north of Castaic, said California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Moore. A short time later, at about 1 a.m.

A dead man with several trash bags over his head and a blood-soaked cloth around his neck was found Thursday morning near the Golden State Freeway, authorities said. A passing motorist found the clothed body lying face up about 10 feet west of the freeway near Magic Mountain Parkway about 6:50 a.m., said Lt. R. David Dietrich of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The man's identity is still unknown, Dietrich said, but authorities believe he was killed elsewhere and then dumped.