Body found in ’09 had ties to Glendale

GLENDALE — San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials are asking for the public’s help with details surrounding the mysterious 2009 death of a Murrieta man who was last seen in Glendale.

Campers found 55-year-old Robert Samuel’s badly decomposed body on Nov. 13, 2009, in a desert area along Interstate 40 near Needles, sheriff’s spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said.

He was never reported missing by friends, relatives or his ex-girlfriend, Bachman said.

Sheriff’s detectives have been investigating his disappearance and death for more than a year, but have come up empty, Bachman said.

Samuel was last seen in July 2009 when his ex-girlfriend dropped him off near a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Glendale, she said. Samuel reportedly has family in Glendale.

“Because they had broken up, she didn’t expect to hear from him,” Bachman said.

Samuel, who was Armenian, was also separated from his wife who lived in the Glendale area, but she never reported him missing, Bachman said.

He was also known to frequent La Cañada Flintridge, North Hollywood and Murrieta, Bachman said.

Anyone with details about Samuel’s death or his whereabouts is asked to call Sheriff’s Det. Mike Smith or Sgt. Don Lupear at (909) 387-3589. Anonymous tips can made at (800) 78-CRIME, or https://www.wetip.com.