Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 22 members of the MS-13 gang in Los Angeles have been charged with multiple murders dating back two years, according to a RICO indictment unsealed on Monday, July 15, 2019. Named in the indictment are German Arnulfo Cruz Hernandez; Angel Amadeo Guzman; Ever Joel Morales; Fernando Garcia Parada; Jose Baquiax Alvarez; Kevin Villalta Gomez; Kevin Arteaga; Edgard Velasquez; Walter Chavez Larin; Yefri Alexander Revelo; Wilfredo Vides; Gerardo Alvarado; Roberto Carlos Mendez Cruz; Bryan Alberto Ordones; Roberto Alejandro Corado Ortiz; Edwin Isaac Mendez; Josue Balmore Flores Castro; Luis Arturo Gonzalez; Edwin Martinez; Steven Emmanuel Linares; Marco Antonio Ramos; and Erick Eduardo Rosales Arias. LOS ANGELES An investigation by federal and local authorities has resulted in a federal racketeering case that charges 22 people linked to the MS-13 transnational gang, most of whom allegedly participated in a series of murders, including several slayings in which victims were hacked to death with machetes in the Angeles National Forest. We have now taken off the streets nearly two dozen people associated with the most violent arm of MS-13 in Los Angeles, where the gang is believed to have killed 24 people over the past two years, said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. But, he noted, criminals see the forest as the ideal spot to hide their victims. Baldy Area Temporary Closure. While there, the gang members beat the boy to death, according to prosecutors. MS-13 is a dead end, and it shouldnt be a part of your decision-making process.. MS-13 members are escorted by National Police officers in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on February 19, 2021. Federal prosecutors said some of the MS-13 gang members suspected G.B. Kimberly Pandelios - Unsolved Mysteries Indeed, during his trial and while in prison Edwards openly and persistently claimed that he was behind all of these, and often boasted that he had killed up to 18 children across Los Angeles County, where he operated heavy-equipment as a highway construction worker. Seven of those, prosecutors said, occurred in the past two years. Court documents said some of those charged posted photographs and messages to Facebook and other social media that appeared linked to the violence. Twenty-two people allegedly affiliated with the gangs Fulton clique in the San Fernando Valley were indicted by a grand jury on racketeering charges that include nearly 200 criminal acts, committed across several states over nine years. United States Attorneys Office Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Angeles National Forest - Home - US Forest Service 9 more tied to MS-13 killings where some victims were hacked up in The indictment also suggests that the Fulton group operated differently from other MS-13 cliques in Los Angeles. Join MU Plus+ and get exclusive shows and extensions & much more! Its remote and theres not a lot of people around, so it supplies the seclusion these people are looking for.. 22 suspected members of MS-13 charged in, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), 22 suspected members of MS-13 charged in Angeles National Forest machete murders, Valley Glen park shooting, LA man arrested, suspected ofcarjackinga vehicle in Corona and firing shots at police during pursuit, Baby girl Winter of Lake Arrowhead is born amid raging blizzard, McOsker introduces motion to speed up 911 call response in Los Angeles, 7 house fires prompt fears about gas meters buried in snow. Thanks for contacting us. Benanti, who worked for a landscaping company that mowed grass and watered plants for the older man, lived at Youngs home for nearly a year before the mans disappearance. "Criminal Minds" Epilogue (TV Episode 2011) - IMDb In one case, a rival gang member was dismembered and his heart was carved out, U.S. District Attorney Nick Hanna said in a news conference Tuesday. New membership requires undergoing a 13-second beating by other gang members, the DOJ said. She was found under a log in a creek in 1985. Also, Rossi struggles with an agonizing decision regarding his ex-wife. Authorities worked Wednesday to recover the bodies of what are believed to be two missing teenagers in the Angeles National Forest. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court. 's heart," and others "threw J.S. A fourth was detained in Colorado, officials said. Altadena Sheriff's Station. Nineteen of the 22 defendants "are in the country illegally," he said, two are U.S. citizens and one is a lawful permanent resident. Official websites use .gov A .gov The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. Call ahead to confirm availability. No further evidence was ever found, and it was as if they had simply vanished into thin air. Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest Fuels Program mission is to manage fuels at the landscape scale to restore and maintain fire-resilient landscapes that are compatible with their historical fire return interval, a core goal of the Cohesive Strategy. On July 12, 1960, Bruce was allegedly hiking with some other children and an adult supervisor around 300 yards from camp when he became tired and was sent back to rest at camp, which was still within site. When the two children did not return there was a massive search launched of the area by a joint force of police and Navy personnel, as well as hundreds of volunteers, who scoured the wilderness looking for any sign of them, but after days of searching they were only able to recover Brendas bicycle and Donalds jacket, which were found near Morris Dam, around a quarter-mile away from where they had last been seen. Sixteen of. Contact Altadena Station. There are not that many human remains found in remote areas, certainly not any more than found in any other areas, said Detective Gerry Biehn of the Sheriffs Departments Homicide Bureau. . They found 34-year-old Bradley Hanaway sleeping on the ground. Last year, then-Police Chief Charlie Beck told The Times the gang had between 700 and 800 members active within the city, compared to approximately 1,000 in 2011. In July, the body of 3-year-old Perla Valencia, her shod feet protruding from the mouth of a plastic garbage bag, was discovered at the bottom of a hill near San Gabriel Canyon Road. The indictment says that MS-13 had "zero tolerance" for members or associates who cooperate with law enforcement and that once suspected, a "green light" could be issued authorizing that person be killed on sight. In August of 1956, 11-year-old Brenda Howell was visiting the area from North Carolina to see her sister, and she made fast friends with a neighborhood boy, 13-year-old Donald Lee Baker. That killing, along with several assaults reported at the park, were part of the Fulton cliques plan to establish control of the park as its territory. Before joining the Southern California News Group in Aug. 2018, Jonah worked at ABC7, freelanced for Voice of San Diego, and interned at The San Diego Union-Tribune. At some point during the hike, Tommy ran ahead and passed out of sight around a bend, but when the rest rounded the same bend just moments later the boy was nowhere to be seen. Over the past year, the other 18 defendants named in the indictment were taken into custody, some on state charges and some on federal charges previously filed. After a suspect cut out the mans heart, they dismembered the victim then threw body parts into a canyon, authorities said. The body was discovered Friday evening inside a tent off a trail at the Cobb. Paramedics pronounced the driver dead at 3:10 p.m., shortly after the crash scene was discovered, Smith said. On March 23, 1957, Eldon Bowman and his brother-in-law Gordon Wicks were taking a hike in the Arroyo Seco in Altadena, California, along with their young children, the oldest of who was 8-year-old Tommy Bowman. Victims of drug deals gone awry, romances gone sour and robberies turned deadly. When startled police saw an end to these long cold cases, they asked Edwards to take them to where he had stashed the bodies, which he agreed to. On the morning August 6, 1956, the two kids set out on their bicycles to go exploring in the San Gabriel Canyon area, near Glendora Mountain Road. (626) 574-1613 / KCAL News. 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Angelo Buono, one of the two Hillside Stranglers, abandoned Hudspeths body in the trunk of her car in the forest in February, 1978. 22 MS-13 Gang Members Charged With Machete Murders In Angeles National In Los Angeles beginning in 2017, MS-13 members who identified with the 503 group had been required to kill a gang rival or "someone perceived to be adverse to MS-13" in order to be initiated, the indictment says. Two months later Donalds bicycle would also be found at Glendora Elementary School, where a student claimed to have found it in the forest not long after the two had vanished. The charges in the indictment include allegations of a racketeering conspiracy against some defendants, murder and violent crimes in aid of racketeering. Working with our local partners, we expect to impact MS-13s influence in gang-occupied communities., The greatest tragedy in these cases is that these young victims likely left their homelands hopeful that in the United States they would find safety and prosperity, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. However, when he directed them to the site, off Mount Baldy Road, there was no sign that any bodies had ever been there at all, and he would not be charged with the disappearances of Brenda and Donald. Biology, nature, and cryptozoology still remain Brent Swancers first intellectual loves. Most of the defendants are young, officials said, with many about 20 years old. The indictment included allegations that the killings were committed in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner that involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim.. Or did these kids just get lost and succumb to the elements and the many natural perils of the area? Cause of death is unknown.. Many had recently immigrated from El Salvador and Honduras. Alvarado later posed for pictures wearing one of the pendants, the indictment says. Shallow Grave, Blood Found in Angeles National Forest An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Joe Hunt, who is serving a life sentence for Levins murder in the Billionaire Boys Club case, has said the victims body was dumped in a remote canyon. Edwin Isaac Mendez, who had taken pictures of the mutilated body, was given the name Predator after taking part in the killing, the indictment says. In 2017, as the result of another investigation by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs, a federal grand jury issued a RICO indictment that targeted MS-13s leadership across the Los Angeles region. Another alleged MS-13 affiliate was arrested over the weekend in Oklahoma. MS-13 was formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s by refugees who fled civil conflict in El Salvador, and it is organized in a loose structure of cells or "cliques," that control specific territory, according to a 2018 report by the Congressional Research Service. Homicide detectives are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of a person whose body was discovered deep in the Angeles National Forest north of La Canada Flintridge on Saturday morning. In one murder detailed in the indictment, several MS-13 members allegedly targeted a rival gang member who was believed to have defaced MS-13 graffiti. 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