4:45pm | On Friday, February 10, the Long Beach Police Department received a tip stating that there was a body buried in the yard of a residence in the area of 68th Way and Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach.
The case was assigned to homicide detectives who determined it might be related to the 2002 missing person case of 39-year-old Jose Luis Sanchez Vasquez of Long Beach, a Hispanic man who lived at that location and went missing from the same area. He was reported missing by his family on March 19, 2002.
During the investigation, the family member who originally reported Mr. Vasquez missing notified detectives in January of 2003 that he had been located in Mexico and was no longer missing.
On Saturday, February 11, Los Angeles County Coroner’s investigators, along with Long Beach Police Homicide detectives, conducted a systematic search of the backyard of a residence on East 68th Way. The Coroner’s office did locate human remains, and will work with homicide detectives and the missing person’s family to try and determine if the remains are that of Mr. Vasquez and the official cause of death. The family of Mr. Vasquez no longer lives at the residence nor are they associated with it.
Anyone who may have information regarding the disappearance of Jose Luis Sanchez Vasquez or the missing persons case is asked to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Terri Hubert or Mark Bigel at (562) 570-7244.