A young boy's body is found near dumpsters in Panorama City. Five people are detained for questioning

Los Angeles Times

6 days ago

Five people were detained for questioning Monday in connection with the death of a young boy found near dumpsters in Panorama City, according to authorities.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded at around 7 a.m. Saturday to the 8200 block of Van Nuys Boulevard and found the body of a boy around 5 or 6 years old, according to an LAPD social media post. The police department's Abused Child Unit took over the investigation.
The boy was found in a parking lot near two dumpsters, and a white canopy was put over the body.
Officers followed a tip to an apartment complex on Lanark Street, less than a mile from where the body was found, police said. Officials executed a search warrant at around 9:30 p.m. at one of the apartments and detained a man and a woman. Two children were in the apartment as well.
LAPD detained three more adults, two men and one woman, near Sunset Boulevard and Ivar Avenue at around 1 a.m., LAPD officials said.
All five were detained for questioning. The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services took custody of the two children.
The relationship between the five adults and the dead boy is still under investigation, police said. The adults haven't been publicly identified. More details about how the boy may have died have not been released.
Local residents held a vigil for the boy the same night that the adults were detained, KTLA news reported. Vigil attendees filmed the adults being led away in handcuffs, and someone was heard screaming 'justice.'
A growing collection of toys, flowers and notes have been left in the parking lot where the boy was found.
A rainbow-colored Snoopy rested near a star-shaped yellow helium balloon in the pile on Monday. 'Fly with the angels little guy,' one message said.
Eduardo Martinez, 28, a Panorama City resident, wept and shook his head. Nearby, a half-dozen people held hands and prayed.
'Whatever happened here is despicable,' said Martinez, who attends nursing school next door. 'I hope they catch whoever did this.'
This pocket of Panorama City is largely commercial, with dentist offices, nursing schools, and restaurants lining the streets. A nearby apartment tower looms over the parking lot.
'They still haven't found who did it, no?' Brandon Moreno, a teenager who lives nearby, asked a friend as they peered through a chain-link fence at the memorial.
The neighborhood, which is heavily Latino, is also on edge because of the recent immigration raids throughout the region, residents said.
'It's a lot going on right now,' said Moreno.