Grieving Family Wants Answers To Why Mother Of 2 Was Found Dead In A Wash

GLENDALE (CBSLA.com) —  A family is in mourning and left questioning.

It's a heartbreaking story about a mother of 2. Her family says Julia Moniz was loved very much.

But her body was found about three weeks ago in a wash in Big Tujunga Canyon near Oro Vista.

KCAL9's Jennifer Kastner spoke to the woman's devastated family in Sunland Friday evening.

The woman's family's posted flyers in Sunland and all over social media. The flyers have Moniz's picture and a headline, "Do you know what happened in the wash?"

Her family says the 34-year-old woman's body was left out there 10 days -- feet from a populated homeless encampment before someone made the call.

"That's part of what is so hard," says Sarah, Moniz's sister, "not only that she was killed but also that they just left her there. Like trash."

Police wont say how Moniz died, only that homicide detectives are on the case.

Her family admits Moniz used to do drugs and may have gone into the wash and relapsed. But never did they imagine this.

"She was loved by many people," says Sarah, "so drug addiction or not, no one deserves that."

Another gruesome but unrelated discovery was made in this same canyon last Sunday -- a human hand. No body was discovered in that case.

Moniz's family is now making picket signs and printing out flyers to bring to a wash cleanup scheduled for Saturday.

"The whole system out there is failing because there are no police out there," said Ginny, Moniz's mother.

They're hoping police and local politicians take notice and step up their concern.

Police weren't able to comment about this investigation or safety measures in the area.