The skeletal remains of what is likely a missing UCLA student
were found Wednesday morning next to a crashed red pickup truck in
Malibu Canyon.
Michael Niemeyer, 22, only one course short of graduating last
spring, was last seen driving the 1997 red Ford Ranger on his way
home from UCLA to Redlands in mid-October.
Niemeyer was last seen leaving his apartment in Westwood around
2 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2003, before he left for Redlands. After
Niemeyer didn’t show up, his family filed a missing persons
report.
Niemeyer’s pickup was found over the side of a 100- to
150-foot cliff in Malibu Canyon, off Piuma Road. Police say there
was no guardrail to protect cars from driving over the edge.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has not confirmed
the identity of the victim in the car, but has obtained
Niemeyer’s dental records to see if there is a match.
Based on the vehicle, the remains are assumed to be
Niemeyer’s, but the coroner’s office is treating the
victim as a John Doe right now, said Coroner’s Office
Spokesman Capt. David Campbell. Campbell said a skull and jaw had
been obtained at the scene Wednesday, and that those pieces were
used to start an investigation of who the individual might be.
Campbell warned that it is too early to confirm to whom the
remains belong. He added that Niemeyer could have lent his car to
someone and that the coroner’s office has not determined
whether the victim was male or female.
A team of at least four people from the coroner’s office
plus members of law enforcement were at the crash scene on Thursday
to recover more evidence, he said.
In addition to being examined by a coroner’s pathologist,
the remains will also be examined by a forensic anthropologist in
an attempt to determine the cause of death, Campbell said.
According to Niemeyer’s mother, he was on his way home
because of financial trouble.
Redlands Detective Travis Martinez said he was given
Niemeyer’s case in late January after the Los Angeles Police
Department had conducted a brief investigation and determined that
it was not under its jurisdiction because Niemeyer was headed
home.
Before the pickup was found, police had few leads, and said they
were going to look in other states for John Does that matched
Niemeyer’s description.
In an interview nearly a month ago, Oren Mayer, one of
Niemeyer’s roommates and a fifth-year microbiology,
immunology and molecular genetics student, said Niemeyer always had
friends over and that lots of people were concerned about his
whereabouts.
Niemeyer’s mother said he had usually told people where he
was going, and it was an uncharacteristic change that he had not
told any of his friends or his girlfriend of two-and-a-half years
where he was headed.