Kramer Family Awaiting Positive ID of Remains

While waiting to learn if remains found in Malibu Canyon are those of former Iron Butterfly bassist and Thousand Oaks businessman Philip Taylor Kramer, his family members in Thousand Oaks released a statement Tuesday expressing their grief.

The Los Angeles County coroner will use dental records to make a positive identification of the remains, which they say they will have by Thursday.

Sheriff’s officers spent part of Tuesday deciding how to remove the green 1993 Ford Aerostar van from the canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains, where it and the remains were found by hikers on Sunday.

Kramer’s family, in their statement, said: “If authorities confirm the remains found are in fact those of Philip Taylor Kramer, it will put an end to 4 1/2 years of an emotional and traumatic time for our family.

Many friends and news agencies have dedicated their time, efforts, dollars and prayers in the search for Taylor and for this we are extremely grateful.”

The 42-year-old Kramer disappeared Feb. 12, 1995, after he called his wife and a friend on his way home from Los Angeles International Airport.

Just before noon that day, officials said, Kramer, who was 6-foot-5, called 911 and said he was going to kill himself.

Police believe that Kramer committed suicide. But the family has remained convinced that Kramer may have been the victim of foul play.

Kramer was not an original member of Iron Butterfly, the group best know for its 1969 album “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda,” which spent 81 weeks as a top 10 record. Kramer joined the band in 1975.

He had also worked as an engineering specialist on a U.S. missile program in the mid-1980s.

If the body is identified as Kramer’s, coroners will try to determine the cause of death, which could take months, officials said.