Local News in Brief : Bodies of 2 Missing Men Found at the Bottom of Deep Canyon

The bodies of two men who had been reported missing since last week were recovered Saturday by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at the bottom of a 600-foot canyon in the Santa Clarita Valley, California Highway Patrol officials said.

CHP officer Carla Bittner said the two men, identified as Terry Seever, 31, of Lomita and Donald Freeland, 29, of Torrance plunged to their deaths when they lost control of their rented off-road jeep and tumbled over the side of a mountain in a remote area one mile west of Sierra Highway near Sierra Pelona Lookout.

Bittner said the accident occurred about a week ago, but the bodies of the two were not found until a sheriff’s helicopter spotted the wrecked four-wheel-drive vehicle Friday evening. Because of the dark, a rescue team was not able to enter the area and recover the bodies until Saturday, and the rugged terrain made it necessary to leave the vehicle in the canyon, Bittner said.

Freeland, a paraplegic, and Seever were reported missing Wednesday after they failed to return from a weekend outing in the Mojave Desert.

Rescue teams from two counties searched the Lancaster area of Los Angeles County and Eastern Kern County after friends and relatives reported that the two may have gone to one of those areas.