The Corpses of Castaic Lake: Is Bryce Laspisa One of Them?

Possible serial killer link to Bryce Laspisa case:

“I believe the autopsy was performed,” an inspector in the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office now says. But adds she's not permitted to release the medical examiner's findings or the burned man's identity.

California police operating on an unusual ‘security hold’ are quietly exploring the possible connection of a body dumped in Gorman last week with Wednesday's burning man incident at nearby Castaic Lake and an AWOL college student.

The shroud of secrecy plus a purported "backlog" at the coroner's office is allegedly what's delaying a full autopsy on those charred remains as well as official confirmation as to who they actually belong to.

Many fear the dead man -- burned beyond recognition -- is missing 19-year-old Bryce Laspisa who, days earlier, strangely vanished after wrecking his vehicle only a few miles from the crime scene. Divers and rescue teams have been futilely searching for him in and around Castaic Lake ever since.

Just two days before Laspisa's troubling disappearance, homicide detectives had been called to neighboring Fraser Mountain Park Road off Interstate-5 in Gorman after a work crew there stumbled upon a dead body wrapped in plastic. 

The victim in that incident was an adult African American male. He too is at the morgue now.

Over the years, there have been a number of other corpses found in this area so it's likely their cases will also have to be revisited soon. Many that were ruled accidents or suicides could in fact be the work of a serial killer cruising the interstate and remote rest areas for easy prey.

If the Castaic Killer does indeed exist, perhaps this then was the message he hoped to send police by torching his last victim so close to a busy thoroughfare -- it wouldn't be the first time a serial murderer felt he wasn't getting enough attention for his handiwork.

And he wouldn't be the only nomadic one, either.

As a matter of fact, the FBI has begun urging the public to exercise extreme caution when traveling the nation's highways. Particularly at rest stops and scenic pullovers where, the Bureau warns, roaming serial killers like Israel Keyes are now routinely lurking.

According to the FBI, they've seen an alarming uptick in the number of cadavers strewn along major U.S. roadways this past decade, many of which were dismembered and badly decomposed and therefore remain unidentified.

With a formal ID of the burning man still pending today, the parents of Bryce Laspisa have yet to learn if this was the same fate of their young son who, just prior to disappearing, had detoured from Interstate-5 to catch some sleep at Castaic Lake before resuming his journey home. 

Story by Eponymous Rox for Killing Killers

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