Port Hueneme Man Arrested as Suspect in Slaying : Crime: The 19-year-old is held in the fatal shooting of Andy Lee Anderson of Simi Valley, whose body was found Sunday at a campground near Ojai.

A 24-year-old Simi Valley man reported missing from a fishing trip was found shot to death early Sunday at a remote campground north of Ojai, one day after police discovered his truck abandoned in West Hollywood.

Later Sunday, a 19-year-old Port Hueneme man was arrested on suspicion of killing Andy Lee Anderson, whose body was discovered about 6 a.m. by a sheriff’s search team at the Middle Lion’s Campground near the Rose Valley Recreation Area, authorities said. The body was partially hidden by tree boughs.

Timothy Chrestman was taken into custody around 2:30 p.m. at Zuma Beach in Los Angeles County by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Craig Husband. No further details on the arrest or a possible motive were available late Sunday.

Anderson, described as an avid outdoorsman and a loyal friend, died of a single gunshot wound to the upper body, Husband said. His Australian shepherd was also killed and lay a short distance away, along with Anderson’s tackle box and a few trout apparently caught in Sespe Creek. Husband said investigators found no sign of a struggle at the campground.

Anderson was last seen early Friday when he left his parents’ home in Simi Valley to go fishing in the Ojai area. He had planned to return by about 2 p.m. and was scheduled to work at his job at Blue Cross of California in Westlake at 4 p.m.

Family members called Simi Valley police that night when he failed to show up for work.

Hours later, about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, sheriff’s deputies in Los Angeles discovered Anderson’s blue 1987 Toyota pickup truck abandoned near Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. Witnesses told deputies that they saw the truck cut off another vehicle in traffic, and that the truck was then chased by that vehicle. The chase ended when the truck was abandoned, Husband said, adding that two men were seen running from the area of the truck.

Inside the truck, investigators found a 20-gauge shotgun and a small-caliber rifle that did not belong to Anderson. Husband said ballistics tests were being performed to determine if one was used to kill Anderson. An autopsy on Anderson’s body is scheduled today.

Before the body was found, Ventura County sheriff’s deputies and Anderson’s relatives spent Saturday scouring the mountainous area north of Ojai by ground and helicopter.

Relatives and about 50 friends were preparing to resume the search Sunday morning, armed with flyers showing Anderson’s picture, when they learned that his body had been found about 15 miles north of Ojai in Rose Valley, an area with a reputation for rowdy parties.

“We made the phone call before we started looking,” said his sister, Laurie. “And they told us they already had some bad news.”

Although several groups of people had stayed overnight at the campground, no one reported seeing the body clad in blue jeans, a green and blue shirt, and tennis shoes.

“You would have expected that people would have seen the fish lying there and looked around, but that didn’t happen,” Husband said.

Anderson was the youngest of three children and lived with his parents, Bobby and Carolyn. He worked the swing shift as a customer service representative for Blue Cross. Supervisor Sandy Hogsett said he was adept at handling customer complaints.

He graduated from Apollo Continuation High School in Simi Valley and attended Moorpark College for about a year before quitting to work full time and pay off some bills, said his mother, Carolyn Anderson.

Sunday afternoon, more than 50 friends and relatives crowded into the Andersons’ home to console each other and express anger over the killing.

“I just hope they catch the people who did this because they obviously don’t have a heart,” said Lori Quinn, Anderson’s girlfriend of three years. “They don’t know how many lives they’ve messed up.”

Friends described Anderson as an independent worker, a protective brother and an athlete who enjoyed playing in football and baseball leagues since he was a youngster.

“He liked to do anything that presented a challenge for him,” his mother said.

Laurie Anderson said her brother hoped to make a career of his job at Blue Cross and save enough money to marry his girlfriend and move into their own home.

She said he was part of a large circle of friends who had grown up together in the subdivision where the family lived.

“If anybody was in trouble, if anybody needed a friend to talk to, he was there,” she said.

Times correspondent Jeff McDonald contributed to this report.