Palos Verdes police identify 3 missing people through human remains found on shoreline
The Palos Verdes Estates Police Department has linked the identities of three separate missing person instances to several sets of human remains found along the shoreline, the department announced on Wednesday.
A Redondo Beach boater, a man experiencing homelessness and a fisherman who went missing after his boat was discovered crashed, have been identified by a human femur, a human skull and body parts found at the beach and shoreline, starting in 2023.
"While the circumstances surrounding each case are heartbreaking, we hope that these identifications provide a measure of peace to the loved ones who have endured uncertainty and loss," PVPD Chief Luke Hellinga said in a statement.
A human femur found in 2023 has been linked to missing boater Mark Paulson, who didn't return from a boating trip out of Redondo Beach. In January 2021, search and rescue teams searched to find Paulson, but only his overturned boat was located. He was last heard from reporting engine trouble from his boat, and expressing concern about being blown out to sea, according to PVPD.
"Based on the totality of the circumstances, there is no suspicion of foul play. He would have been 68 years old," PVPD wrote in a news release.
A human skull that was found at Rat Beach in 2024 was matched through DNA testing to Raymond Simeroth, who would be 57 years old. Investigators determined he was experiencing homelessness and there is no suspicion of foul play linked to his death, police said.
In December 2024, a fishing vessel with two men on board was reported missing from San Pedro amid high surf conditions. The two men were hoop-net fishing and their boat was discovered crashed on the Palos Verdes coastline the morning after they departed.
The boat two fishermen were inside when they went missing off the coast of Palos Verdes was discovered washed ashore in the area the morning the search began on Dec. 24, 2025.
KCAL News
Multiple agencies assisted the Los Angeles County Fire Department in searching for the men, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Redondo Beach Fire Department, but they were not found.
On Dec. 26, 2024, the day after their boat was found, "two partial sections of lower extremities were located on the shoreline …," PVPD said in a statement. Through DNA matching, the body parts belonged to one of the missing fishermen, 62-year-old Zhaoliang Tang. Police said that no remains have been found associated with the other missing fisherman.
"The Palos Verdes Estates Police Department remains committed to thorough investigations that help bring answers and closure to families affected by tragedy," Hellinga said in a statement.
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