Corpse of missing 19-year-old Los Angeles woman found by hiker in Siskiyou County

The body of a Los Angeles teenager was found by a hiker in Siskiyou County last week after going missing for months.

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Tatiana Dugger, 19, was found around 11:45 a.m. on March 28 by a hiker walking through U.S. Forest Service land near Highway 97 and Juniper Terrace, about 8 miles northeast of Weed.

Her body was found in a remote area away from the roads, and Siskiyou County law enforcement officials believe she had been there “for an extended period of time.”

Dugger, who was last thought to have been in Oakland, was reported missing by family members to the Oakland Police Department on Jan. 9. Dugger had moved from Oroville to Los Angeles three months prior to her disappearance, and the Butte County Sheriff’s Office took over the missing person investigation.

Butte County officials said that Dugger’s body was taken for an autopsy conducted on Thursday. Using DNA testing, investigators confirmed her identity on Friday.

The investigation into Dugger’s death remains active, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.

This story was originally published April 3, 2021 at 12:19 PM.