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Body Found In Area Of Blue Cut Fire; Family Friend May Know Killer

PHELAN (CBSLA.com) — For the past couple of decades, Cheryl Lester tried to be a mother figure for 38-year-old Nikki Brown, the woman recently found dead in a rural part of Phelan,

"I took her mother's place when she died," Lester said. "I did the best I could to mother her. She was a lost soul but that didn't mean she needed to die."

The last time Lester saw her she was battered and beaten. Lester says she later learned online Brown had died and got a tip where her body might be buried and told officers.

Homicide detectives confirmed they found Brown's body and are working her case.

The coroner called Lester and said they found her body and she was badly decomposed.

Lester says Brown's boyfriend Michael Kessler was recently arrested for stealing from a homeowner displaced during the Blue Cut fire.

The sheriff's department says guns were also missing from the victim's home.

Detectives haven't named suspects in Brown's death, and it troubles Lester that no arrests have been made.

"I feel that no justice is being served in this case."

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