‘He didn’t need to be treated like an animal.’ 13-year-old found dead under mysterious circumstances
Published atLOS ANGELES (KABC) — The family of a missing 13-year-old boy from North Hollywood confirmed that investigators found his body in Ventura County on Wednesday.
Los Angeles police said Oscar Omar Hernandez was reported missing Sunday by his family.
The teen boarded a Metrolink train to Palmdale to help a soccer coach at a complex there, his family told Eyewitness News. When he didn’t return home that night, the family worried and started looking for him. They reported him missing that day.
On Wednesday, his body was found on the side of the road in Oxnard. The LAPD was assisted by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI during the investigation.
Police have not revealed what evidence led them to find his body more than 60 miles away in the remote area.
The teen’s mother is devastated over her son’s death. Gladys Bautista said she wants help finding the person responsible for what happened to her son.
Bautista described her son as a happy kid who loved soccer and was excited that he was about to receive his visa so he could return to visit relatives in Honduras.
On Thursday, family and friends held a vigil where the teen’s body was found.
“He didn’t need to be treated like an animal. That was my son,” Bautista cried out in Spanish.
One of his friends there described him as the “nicest person.”
“He was just trying to have his own money and accomplish his goals in life,” another friend said.
In the evening, friends and relatives paid tribute to the teen with a memorial outside his home in North Hollywood.
“He was always kindhearted. He had such a great personality, he was funny,” 12-year-old Melanie Samayoa said. “He would always bring out a smile to us, and like one of my friends said, he’s such a great dancer too.”
Detectives are still investigating. A cause of death is unknown.
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