Authorities Investigate Mysterious Incident as High Tide Raises Questions
By Dolores Quintana
The beach at the 23200 block of Pacific Coast Highway at Malibu Lagoon State Beach was the site of a horrifying discovery on Monday, July 31. A 55-gallon barrel was found floating in the lagoon on Sunday night by maintenance workers who were not able to bring the drum ashore.
The next morning, the county lifeguard on duty was able to use a kayak to retrieve the barrel, and when they opened it, they made a grisly discovery. The lifeguard then called the authorities around 10:00 a.m. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and homicide detectives began an investigation, and the Malibu Lagoon Beach area was closed, while the rest of Malibu Beach was not affected.
Reports are conflicting, but Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Lizette Falcon told USA Today.com, in a report later in the day, “At first it was reported that the victim was a male, but the coroner hasn’t identified the remains. We can’t really confirm whether it’s a male or a female.”
Malibu Lagoon Beach is also under a LA County Public Health Ocean Water Use Warning along with nine other county beaches as of July 31 due to high levels of bacteria. You can check the list of beaches affected by this warning here.
We have asked for comment from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Department of Parks and Recreation but did not receive a response by press time.
