California IN BRIEF : MALIBU : Gunshot Victim’s Body Is Identified
Authorities on Friday identified the body of a woman who was found when deputies saw a bloody trail leading from her vehicle down an embankment.
Leyla Dawn Hatipoglu, 30, of West Los Angeles had been shot in the head. Deputies found the body at 5:30 a.m. Thursday after stopping to check a white Jeep Cherokee with Georgia license plates that was parked about two miles from Mulholland Highway, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Gabe Ramirez.
A trail of blood led from the car door to the body, said Sheriff’s Lt. Frank Merriman.
Investigators believe the woman was shot at the scene, but there were no obvious signs of a struggle, he added.
The vehicle was registered to Hatipoglu, he said.
Bloody clothing and a piece of bloody carpet were found in two trash cans at a turnout about a mile from the scene, but it was not immediately clear whether they were connected to the slaying, authorities said.
In a separate discovery, a California Highway Patrol officer found the body of an unidentified Latino man in a creek bed at 12:45 p.m. Friday, sheriff’s spokesman George Ducoulombier said.
The body was found less than a mile north of the Malibu Canyon Road tunnel. It was unclear if the man was murdered, and no other details were available Friday.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
