Skeletal remains found near Mt. Wilson linked to missing woman

A crashed SUV and skeletal remains found near Mt. Wilson on Tuesday have been linked to Sunland resident Kimberly Blum, who went missing more than two years ago, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday.

Blum was last seen on June 5, 2014, around 4 p.m. in the 1000 block of Newhome Avenue in Sunland, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Blum, who was 44 at the time, had attended her niece’s eighth-grade graduation ceremony earlier that day and was supposed to help her sister, Jennifer Franklin, set up the graduation party planned for later that afternoon.

After getting into a mild argument with her sister, Blum left Franklin’s house, prompting Franklin to text her an apology.

“I would really love you to be here with us,” she wrote. “I love you.”

But Blum never responded, and no one ever heard from her again.

A few days later, a maintenance worker found empty prescription medicine containers belonging to Blum north of the 210 Freeway — her mother said Blum was on medication for anxiety and depression — but subsequent investigations including helicopter searches over the mountains found no sign of the woman or her silver 2004 Honda CRV.

Then, on Tuesday, California Department of Transportation personnel working along Angeles Crest Highway near Mt. Wilson spotted skid marks on the road and alerted police, officials said. Sheriff’s deputies arrived to investigate and discovered an SUV about 500 feet down a slope off the side of the highway.

Members of a search-and-rescue team rappelled down to the vehicle and saw that it had been abandoned. Running the vehicle identification information, they saw that it matched the car from Blum’s case.

The skid marks, they determined, came from a more recent collision that was unrelated.

On Wednesday, deputies returned to the site and discovered skeletal remains.

Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner said the remains that were recovered are limited and have not been positively identified.

“We just have a bone — a mandible is all we have,” he said.

Medical examiners will attempt to match the bone with available dental X-rays in order to identify the victim, Smith said.

On Thursday, investigators went back to the crash site to search for more remains.

Blum’s mother, Rosalie Blum, said authorities told her the remains were most likely those of her daughter. She said she was extremely sad, but pleased to know that her child may finally have been found.

“I just want her to rest in peace,” she said.

Blum worked as a senior department assistant for the California Institute of Technology in addition to running her own personal-organization business called Garage Fairy, which she launched shortly before her disappearance.

Her family had offered a $5,000 reward for any information leading to her whereabouts.

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