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Girl, 9, Found Murdered On Hacienda Heights Trail Identified

HACIENDA HEIGHTS (CBSLA) — The identity of a 9-year-old girl found murdered on a hiking trail in Hacienda Heights last week has finally been determined.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported Sunday that the girl whose body was found partially inside a duffel bag along the 3400 block of South Hacienda Boulevard, near Glenmark Drive, on the morning of Tuesday, March 5, was identified as 9-year-old Trinity Love Jones, an L.A. County resident.

Trinity Love Jones
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reports that a girl whose body was found inside a duffel bag on a Hacienda Heights hiking trail March 5, 2019, has been identified as 9-year-old Trinity Love Jones. (LASD)

The sheriff's department confirmed that two people were being held as persons of interest in the girl's murder. There names were not immediately released.

At a candlelight vigil Sunday evening where her body was found, Jones' father, Antonio Jones, confirmed to CBS2 that his family believes Trinity was the little girl who was found in some bushes along the trail by some workers.

Trinity Love Jones
A vigil along a Hacienda Heights trail where a girl's body was found inside a duffel bag on a Hacienda Heights hiking trail March 5, 2019. She has been identified as 9-year-old Trinity Love Jones. March 10, 2019. (CBS2)

The body found has a chipped tooth similar to one Trinity had, Antonio said. He added that a positive match was made using a family member's DNA.

The L.A. County coroner's office has ruled the case is a homicide. The office did not provide a cause of death.

The sheriff's department was set to hold a news conference on the case sometime this week.

Sheriff's investigators had been unable to identify the victim. She was initially described as between 8 to 13 years of age and weighing only 55 pounds.

A sketch released by investigators last week showed a young, skinny girl without shoes, a pink shirt with "Future Princess Hero" written on it and panda pants. Detectives believe Jones' body may have been dumped on the trail on Sunday, March 3.

On Thursday, the community of Hacienda Heights held its own vigil prior to the discovery of Trinity's identity. Arlene Silva, who helped organize that event, was also at Sunday's family vigil.

"We came together as a community," Silva said. "And she became part of our family."

Rosemary De La Rosa of La Puente also came out to show her respects to the family. She said even though they are strangers, she still felt compelled to be there.

"We just let them know that we are here to pray for them," De La Rosa said. "They'll be in our prayers every night."

 

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