Watch CBS News

Man Says He Found Remains Of His Brother, Cousin In Area Blackened By San Gabriel Complex Fire

NEAR AZUSA (CBSLA.com) — A family member searching for his brother and cousin says that he found their remains in rugged terrain in the Angeles National Forest.

Crews descended upon the area above Azusa Thursday after Richard Pardo reported finding the remains of his relatives in the brush.

Pardo said he had been searching the trails near the Morris Reservoir for weeks since his 16-year-old brother, Jonathan Pardo, and his 31-year-old cousin, Carlos Perez, disappeared.

"We saw like five birds on top of the canyon, so me and my friend, we got worried so we started hiking up the mountain and sadly we saw the two dead bodies. They were burned," he said.

Late last month, Pardo had dropped his brother and cousin off just hours before the raging fires near Duarte and Azusa would sweep through the same area where they were hiking. He says family members raced back to the canyon to pick the pair up, but could not find them.

"Roads were actually closed," he said. "We tried speaking to the police officers to see if we could get a pass so we could go up the canyons and search for them ourselves."

Pardo said he searched on his own for his family members and alleges that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department offered him very little help.

"I'm really angry and mostly I'm really sad for my family," he said. "It's sad to see my parents suffering."

The LASD says the department did all it could to help find the missing hikers but it was too dangerous during the fire. They say, once the flames were out, they did send out search and rescue teams.

The remains were still in the canyon as of late Thursday as it was too late to bring them down, according to officials, because of the steep and treacherous terrain.

The bodies are expected to be retrieved Friday. It will be up to the coroner to determine the cause of death and the identities of the victims.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.