Body Found in Missing Shop Owner’s Van : Crime: Man vanished from his San Fernando store Saturday after an apparent struggle. Victim’s identity not confirmed.

The van belonging to a missing San Fernando boot store owner was found at a Mission Hills shopping center Sunday with a body inside, authorities said.

Juan Adolfo Herrera, 47, of Santa Clarita last spoke by phone to his wife shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday from his shop, El Rodeo Boots, in the 1000 block of Maclay Avenue.

“He told me to come quick to the store,” said Luz Herrera. “He had to go pick up some things at the factory and wanted me to watch over the store.”

When she arrived, her husband was not in the shop and the store’s van was gone from its parking place. She saw drops of blood on the carpet.

“I was scared,” she said. “I went to the beauty salon next door and called the police.”

Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Los Angeles sheriff’s investigators located Herrera’s van, a 1988 purple Chevrolet with the words “Rodeo Boots” painted on the doors, at a shopping center at Rinaldi Street and Laurel Canyon Boulevard, said San Fernando Police Lt. Dan Peavy.

Herrera’s sister-in-law, Veronica Galindo, said Sunday night that authorities asked family members to go downtown and identify the body.

“They said, ‘Probably it’s him,’ ” Galindo said.

But Peavy, the coroner’s office and the Sheriff’s Department would not confirm the body was Herrera’s.

“The coroner’s office is in the process of identifying who the person is and determining the cause of death,” Peavy said. “Anybody who saw the van at the location should contact authorities.”

At the store--which sells cowboy boots, belts, purses and clothing--signs of a violent struggle were evident Sunday.

In addition to dried pools of blood on the carpet, splattered blood could be seen on door frames, cardboard boxes and on a pair of boots that had fallen to the floor. A trail of blood drops led out of the store and onto the sidewalk to the curb.

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Investigators on the case could not be reached for comment, but Luz Herrera said she knew of no witnesses to what happened inside or outside the store.

El Rodeo Boots, which opened in early 1998, had been the target of a robbery attempt by two men earlier this month. “They put a gun to me,” said Luz Herrera, who was the only salesperson in the shop at the time. “Another person saw what was happening and yelled that he was going to call the police. The men ran away.”

Other shop owners on the commercial street said they had also been the target of recent robberies. “Two guys came into my place with a whip,” said Rosie Apud, who owns a nearby beauty supply shop. “They made everyone get down and they take things.”