Remains in canyon identified
Human remains and a skull that two joggers found in a popular Dana Point canyon were identified Thursday as that of a 30-year-old man who had been missing for almost three months after he stormed off from home during an argument, officials said.
Family members had reported Jason Thad Mackevicius missing, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. He had been drinking and left his Cortes Drive home at 5:15 a.m. Sept. 15, barefoot and dressed in a white soccer jersey and black shorts. Family members told deputies they had searched several times for Mackevicius.
He was identified through dental records, Amormino said. An autopsy was conducted Thursday to determine the cause of death.
On Tuesday, joggers found a skull in the canyon near Caracas Street and called police, who searched the area with anthropologists and a dog trained to find human bones. The other remains were discovered nearby.
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