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Search Ends For Possible 2nd Body In Lennox Backyard

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County sheriff's and coroner's investigators have concluded a search for more human remains at a reputed drug house where a buried body was dug up in the backyard this week.

Sheriff's Homicide Detective Marcelo Quintero says investigators on Wednesday probed disturbed ground in the front yard and used a dog to search other areas but nothing else was found on the property in unincorporated Lennox, east of Los Angeles International Airport.

Quintero says it's believed there are no more bodies on the property.

Quintero says the body found Tuesday has yet to be identified.

Detectives have been unable to locate James Stein, 53, and Gabriela Stein, both of whom lived at the home.

Investigators went to the home after James Stein was reported missing on Dec. 17, but found nothing, Quintero said.

He described the run-down residence as a "drug house" and said deputies had responded to reports of trouble at the home for several years. He did not elaborate.

Detectives were eventually led to the backyard by Jenny Salazar, a woman who also had once lived at the home and was arrested Monday following an altercation at the home Saturday, Quintero said.

Sheriff's Lt. Don Slawson told the Daily Breeze of Torrance that Salazar and her ex-boyfriend, Marcos Lomeli, went to the home on Jan. 12 and asked a resident in the home if they could borrow a truck.

When the resident asked why, Lomeli said he needed to move a couple of bodies, Slawson said.

When the resident refused, they tied him up and took off in his truck, authorities said. The man eventually freed himself and told authorities.

Lomeli was still being sought in the case, detectives said. Gabriela Stein was last seen Dec. 25, Quintero said.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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