Body Found Near Blythe ID'd as Missing Chula Vista Man

A body found in the desert near Blythe was identified today as a 36-year-old San Diego County man reported missing Aug. 26.

Chula Vista resident Leslie James Kennedy was found Aug. 29 about five miles west of Mesa Drive and two miles north of Blackrock Road.

His family reported him missing in the Blythe area, where he had been living and working recently, to the Chula Vista police, sheriff's Sgt. Thomas Velarde said.

Kennedy's family last heard from him Aug. 17, when he told them he was coming to Chula Vista, Velarde said.

Riverside County sheriff's deputies learned Aug. 27 that the California Highway Patrol towed Kennedy's Ford Mustang from along Interstate 10 near Blythe the same day he last spoke to family members. A search of the area that included aircraft, turned up a body in the hills north of where his car was found, Velarde said.

The cause of death was not included in the autopsy report.

—City News Service