Police Unearth Body, Think It’s Missing Youth

Police unearthed a body from a back yard grave Monday night and said they believe that it is that of Stuart A. Tay, a 17-year-old high school honor student who was reported missing on New Year’s Eve.

Orange Police Lt. Timm Browne said five suspects were arrested Monday afternoon in connection with the disappearance of Tay, who left his parents’ home in Orange on Thursday to run an errand and never returned.

Police said the suspects were all teen-agers who attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton.

Four were not identified because they were juveniles. Two live in Buena Park and two are from Fullerton. Police said three of the juveniles are 16 years old and one is 17. They also said one of the juveniles lived at the home where the body was found.

One adult, Robert Chan, 18, of Fullerton, also was arrested.

Browne said police obtained a search warrant Monday for a home at 6121 Fullerton St. in Buena Park, where authorities uncovered the body about 9 p.m. from a 6-by-8 foot area of the yard marked by fresh soil. Police tentatively identified the victim as Tay but were awaiting passport fingerprint records before making a positive identification.

Browne said witnesses recently saw people burying a large object in the yard and, when they inquired about the activity, were told that it was for a dead dog.

Browne said there was “a quantity of blood” on the walls of a two-car detached garage at the Fullerton Street home, and the body showed several head wounds that appeared to be inflicted by a blunt instrument.

Tay, who wanted to be a physician like his father, has been the subject of a manhunt throughout Southern California since his family reported him missing New Year’s Day. Family associates said he told his relatives when he left that he was going to Fullerton to do some repair work on computers, one of his hobbies.

Saturday, police in Compton found Tay’s car “stripped and vandalized,” leading investigators to describe the student’s disappearance as “ominous.” Friends of the family said Tay’s parents had given him the car--a 1990 Nissan 300 ZX--just three weeks ago as a present for his birthday and for his good grades. The car came with a cellular telephone and a beeper.

Police arrested one youth in connection with the car theft, but they did not indicate whether he was involved in Tay’s disappearance. They also said they believe that Tay went to the Buena Park home “of his own accord.”

A private investigator hired by the family speculated that Tay was referring to the home on Fullerton Street when he told family members he was going to Fullerton to work on computers.

“Perhaps the common denominator among the suspects and Tay is their interest in computers,” Lt. Browne said. Police said they do not believe that drugs were involved in the case.

The Buena Park home was rented by a family that included several teen-agers, but police would not identify the residents. Authorities said police are frequently called to the house to quell disturbances such as loud parties.

At Foothill High School Monday, Tay’s disappearance was a major topic among classmates and teachers. School officials said that if Tay’s death is confirmed they will order counselors to talk to students in the victim’s classrooms.

Tay’s friends described him as an outspoken and active youth with strong opinions. Acquaintances said he was a founder of an Asian Culture Club, an ethnic awareness organization. He was also a member of the Key Club and the Junior Statesmen of America, a group intended to discourage political apathy.

“He had the reputation for being a real genius around school,” said Tara Budzyn, sports editor of the school newspaper.

For all of his involvement, however, he was also described as “rebellious” and a “nonconformist.”

He was a keyboard player in a band that played “alternative” music. And he often wore T-shirts depicting his favorite rock groups, Depeche Mode and the Cure.

“He’s very opinionated,” said Tad Heath, 17, a classmate of Tay. In an English literature class last year, Heath said Tay often disagreed with other students over interpretations of poems and other literature.

Heath said Tay found darkness and death in poems where other students found life. He also remembered Tay as a student who dressed in black and wouldn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

“He doesn’t like to go along with the norm on many issues,” said Heath. “I think that was his goal. He was an intelligent kid.”

Many of Tay’s fellow students and teachers remember his bright intellect. He was an honor student in calculus, literature and civics. Friends said he had been accepted by Princeton University for this fall and was also considering UCLA.

He told one teacher his goal was to be an ophthalmologist.

“He was a very bright young man,” said John Kasper, Tay’s English teacher. “He’s a kind of student who brings vitality into the classroom; he questions, he thinks and he forces other students to think.”

Janis Jones, principal of Foothill High School, remembered Tay as a student who “wanted to put a bid in. He was definitely a young man who wasn’t going to sit still,” she said.

Times staff writer Otto Strong and correspondent Tom McQueeney contributed to this report.