Body Identified as Boy, 15, From Woodland Hills
Remains found by hikers in the Los Padres National Forest have been identified as the body of a 15-year-old Woodland Hills boy missing since Aug. 6, Santa Barbara County authorities said Monday.
Lt. Michael Burridge, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, said the body of Nicholas Sam Markowitz was discovered in a shallow grave on Saturday. His family had reported him missing four days earlier.
An autopsy by the Santa Barbara County coroner’s office revealed that Nicholas died from multiple gunshots, Burridge said.
Detectives had not yet determined where the teenager was killed, Burridge said. The department sought the public’s help in solving the slaying.
“We’re hoping someone may have seen him in the Santa Barbara area before his death,” Burridge said.
Ten Santa Barbara detectives spent Monday in Woodland Hills talking with family members and planning the investigation with Los Angeles Police Department detectives, Burridge said. Police referred questions to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
The hikers found the grave near Lizard’s Mouth campground, about 12 miles north of Santa Barbara off California 154. The area is a popular daytime hiking spot that has drawn nighttime crowds of partying teenagers, Burridge said.
The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department can be reached at (805) 681-4150 or at its anonymous tip line, (805) 681-4171.
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