Hiker stumbles upon skeletal remains of couple who had been missing nearly a year

A California hiker stumbled across the skeletal remains of a couple who had been missing for nearly a year — with their deaths now eyed as a murder-suicide, according to authorities.The unidentified hiker was strolling a Thousand Oaks trail late Sunday when he came across the bodies of Jose Luis Perez, 64, and Stephanie Elizabeth Perez, 65, who had been reported missing last July, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.The Perezes were found with gunshot wounds to the head — with the husband killing himself after murdering his wife, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.The couple from Simi Valley, Calif., were reported missing after losing contact with family and friends in July 2024.Stephanie Perez’s boss first raised the alarm when her employee failed to show for her remote job, cops said.When detectives searched the couple’s home at the time of their disappearance, they found money, passports, IDs, cellphones and even their vehicle, the Simi Valley Acorn reported.“This appears to be an isolated incident, as the subjects were known to one another and were both reported missing in July of 2024,” the Sheriff’s Department stated.An investigation into the motive is still underway, cops said.

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