Local News in Brief : Missing Dentist’s Body Found in Car’s Trunk

The body of an Agoura Hills dentist who had been missing since Monday was found in the trunk of his 1985 Mercedes-Benz Saturday in what Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies are calling an apparent suicide.

Stephen Michael Miller, 36, who was last seen leaving his Encino office for a business meeting in San Fernando, died of a drug overdose, Deputy Pete Fosselman said.

Next to Miller’s body was a suicide note and two empty bottles of prescription drugs, Fosselman said. The deputy would not disclose details of the note or information about the drugs.

Miller’s disappearance prompted an appeal for help from actor Dennis Weaver, who held a news conference Friday with Miller’s wife, Alisa, offering a reward for information leading to the missing man’s whereabouts.

Weaver’s son, Rusty, and Alisa Miller went to school together, the actor said.

Fosselman said the body was discovered after a caller reported that a silver Mercedes had been parked in the 21000 block of Placerita Canyon Road in Newhall for five days.

Deputies checked the car and found it locked, with no sign that it had been tampered with, he said. The car was towed to the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station, where the trunk was opened with keys supplied by the family.

Fosselman said Miller apparently climbed into the trunk and took the pills, but sheriff’s homicide detectives are conducting an investigation.