Body Found Off Central Coast Highway Identified As Missing Woman
SAN LUIS OBISPO (CBS SF) – A body found down an embankment in northern San Luis Obispo County on Tuesday afternoon has been identified as a North Hollywood woman reported missing with her boyfriend and two dogs on Friday, California Highway Patrol officers said.
Olivia Hannah Gonzalez, 20, and 21-year-old Brian Fernandez, also of North Hollywood, left Dec. 23 for a road trip to Big Sur.
The couple was expected to return on Christmas, according to Los Angeles police.
At 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, CHP officers, a CHP helicopter crew and Cal Fire personnel responded to state Highway 1, about 1 mile south of Ragged Point, CHP Officer Patrick Seebart said.
The helicopter crew could see a "very mangled" tan sedan about 325 feet down a steep, rocky embankment, according to Seebart.
Gonzalez and Fernandez were driving a tan Honda Accord, though authorities have not been able to identify the make and model of the sedan they recovered.
Gonzalez's body, along with the body of a dog described as a light brown Labrador retriever mix, were found about 15 feet from the car, in the rocks near the shoreline, San Luis Obispo County sheriff's spokesman Tony Cipolla said.
Crews rappelled down the embankment, reaching the vehicle at around 8:30 p.m. Gonzalez's body was "in bad shape," Seebart said.
Search and rescue and dive teams are now looking for Fernandez's body, along with the body of the other dog.
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