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Authorities Recover 2 Bodies From Los Angeles River During Search For Missing Teenagers

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 20:17 PST, May 1, 2016

On Sunday night the Los Angeles River, near the Cypress Park area, became the scene of a horrific tragedy as divers pulled two bodies from water during what has been called an exhaustive search for to missing teenage boys. According to the Los Angeles Police Department the two young boys had fallen into the river on Friday afternoon.

No word has been given that the two bodies recovered are those of the two teenagers who fell in the river, and Los Angeles Police Detective Meghan Aguilar has stated that while the department awaits word from the coroner the exact identities of the deceased individuals will not be disclosed to the public.

“This evening, two bodies have been recovered from the river. At this time, the coroner is responsible for positively identifying those as the missing teens… This is a dangerous area. We tell people to stay away from moving water.”

The Detective went on to advise that the area where the bodies were found is along a stretch of the Los Angeles river where the water reached levels of up to 12 feet deep.

The two missing boys were identified as 16-year-old Carlos Jovel and 15-year-old Gustavo Ramirez, and on Friday it is said that they and two other friends went to the river and when one fell in, another dived in after him. The other two teenagers called 911 and reported what had happened when neither of the two boys surfaced. Patch wrote that a search of the waters immediately commenced but authorities were unable to locate the boys.

However, there is a slight conflict in the tale as according to the Los Angeles Times, the search for Carlos Jovel and Gustavo Ramirez did not originally focus on the river as their families were unaware that they had gone swimming. Their report states that LAPD Capt. Andrew Neiman said it was only after the boys two friends returned to their own homes was the fact that Carlos and Gustavo were missing came to light. Members of the Los Angeles Police Department had already been searching the area though, having received a call from a witness who said they saw two people in the river near San Fernando Road and Macon Street.

Nonetheless, it was not until Sunday that investigators got a solid lead on the whereabouts of the two teenage boys. Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott said the Los Angeles Fire Department were away reportedly, until a call was received at 12:40 p.m to assist the police after the department received information and this which suggested the two boys had last been spotted specifically near the 1900 block of San Fernando Road. Police officers and Los Angeles Fire Department personnel set up at a command post along the river and divers were in the water searching.

The authorities spent the entire Sunday afternoon and well into the evening, two days after the two teenage boys went missing, scouring all that they could of the Los Angeles river and family members and friends were never far away either. Though they have not outright identified the two bodies pulled from the river the Los Angeles Police Department did describe the bodies as being those of two boys in their teens.

Detective Aguilar said that the area where the two bodies were eventually is one where “they could not be seen looking into the river. You would not have seen either body.”

At this time the police have stated that they do not believe there was any foul play involved in the possible deaths of Carlos Jovel and Gustavo Ramirez. The families of the two boys declined to comment when contacted.

[Image via Sandra Jovel]

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