Remains May Be Missing Motorist

A partial skeleton found near the crest of Mt. Pinos may be that of a man whose pickup truck was found abandoned in the area in August, authorities said Wednesday.

The strongest lead to the man’s identity is a missing-person’s report filed with the Kern County Sheriff’s Department on Aug. 16, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Lt. Craig Husband.

That report was filed about three weeks after Kern County authorities found a pickup truck belonging to 41-year-old Roy Williams of Simi Valley abandoned in the Mt. Pinos Recreation Area, said Kathy Parker, a clerk with the Kern County Sheriff’s Department. The report was filed by the man’s landlord and no relatives have come forward, she said.

The bones were discovered Tuesday by a hiker walking with his dog about a mile from the summit of Mt. Pinos in the northeastern corner of Ventura County. Camping gear including food rations, a sleeping bag, a knife and a shovel were nearby along with stones stacked to form a fire circle.

A firearm was also found with the gear, but it does not appear to have been used in the man’s death, Husband said.

After examining the bones on Tuesday, Ventura County coroner’s officials found no obvious sign of trauma or other indication of how the man died.

Sheriff’s detectives, a coroner’s investigators and a search-and-rescue team plan to return to the mountain Friday to search for more bones and anything to indicate how the man died.

“We don’t know if it’s natural, accidental, suicide, homicide or whatever,” Husband said.