Dismembered Body of Boy, 11, Found in Trash

Discovery of the dismembered body of an 11-year-old boy in a trash dumpster at a fashionable apartment complex in Hacienda Heights led authorities Wednesday to press an intensive search for the child’s attacker.

The body of Raheed Parwez, a seventh-grader, was found in “more than one” plastic bag early Tuesday at Hacienda Pines, a sprawling hillside development at 17044 E. Colima Road, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

Investigators said they did not disclose the discovery of the body for more than a day to protect the investigation of the unusual murder.

The find was made by a maintenance worker shortly after the boy was reported missing by his father, detectives said.

Although the youngster was reported to live within a mile of the apartment complex, authorities declined to say whether he lived in the development, or in the upscale suburban neighborhood surrounding it.

Raheed’s father, Khlid Parwez of Hacienda Heights, a physician, had reported him missing shortly before the remains were found, Lt. Kenneth Chausse, the lead investigator in the case, told United Press International. Chausse said the boy’s parents are separated and the child was the subject of a custody battle. The boy lived with his father and an uncle, the lieutenant said.

Investigators declined to say whether there were any suspects in the slaying.

“There are angles we’re working on,” Detective Richard Adams said after a private 20-minute meeting with the manager of the 266-unit complex, Shirley Baxter. “But we can’t answer (questions).”

Detective Gene Polson said investigators were trying to “see the initial reactions” of persons they approached Wednesday, before they were talked to by the media.

“The investigation is more important at this time than making the 5 o’clock news,” he explained.

Residents of the complex, where rents for two-bedroom units approach $900 a month, said they were unaware of the murder until news crews descended on them near their pool and tennis courts Wednesday.

“Nobody had ever seen him or heard of him (the victim),” said David Haddad, a public accountant who said he has lived in the complex four years.

Haddad said he talked to at least a dozen other residents, who also knew nothing of the victim.

“That seems to be almost a general consensus,” he said. “I’m here a lot and I usually know what’s going on.”

Baxter, who said she had been cautioned by investigators, declined to say whether the boy’s family lived in the complex, or whether he used the same last name as his parents.

The body was discovered shortly before the usual Tuesday morning trash collection, one resident reported.

Officials at the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, where young Raheed attended Wedgeworth Elementary School before enrolling at Mesa Robles Junior High School, declined to release information about him, citing privacy laws.