The burned body of a man who police believe was murdered was found Thursday at the scene of a brush fire that apparently was intentionally set on La Tuna Canyon Road near the Foothill (210) Freeway in Sun Valley, police said.
The fire burning off La Tuna Canyon Road near the eastbound Foothill (210) Freeway was reported at 2:42 a.m. Thursday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters found the man's body, said Sgt. Jim Reid of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Station.
"We believe it to be a homicide," LAPD Detective Patrick Barron told CBS2. "We don't know whether arson was the cause of death, or if it was to cover the death and destroy evidence."
The body was found in a steep ravine near a trailhead in the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Parkland. The fire scorched an area about 20-feet- by-30-feet, the LAFD reported.
Authorities were working to identify the man and determine the cause of death, said coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter.
