Missing person report leads officials to fatal crash site

Authorities say a man who was reported missing on Sunday was found dead a day later after his car was found over the side of the steep Angeles Forest Highway.

[This post has been corrected, see below for details.]

The man, who authorities did not identify, was found dead at the scene of the crash about 8 a.m. Monday after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies from Norwalk used a helicopter to trace the route and found the crashed vehicle that matched witness descriptions. Rescuers who were lowered down to the crash site confirmed his death.

An investigation into the cause of the crash remained ongoing Monday, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Christian Cracraft.

The car that went over the side of the Angeles Forest Highway at Mt. Gleason Road, according to sheriff’s Lt. Angela Shepherd at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, which responded to the crash site.

While the cause had yet to be determined, Shepherd said officers at the scene “[are] saying it was an accident.”

The site of the accident is approximately 14 miles north from where the highway splits off from Angeles Crest Highway.

-- Daniel Siegal and Jason Wells, Times Community News

FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the body was that of a woman.