Anthony James Willis was 35 years old when he was found dead on Thursday, March 2, 2017, in the Angeles National Forest. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds, and his body was found near mile marker 18.87 of the Angeles Forest Highway. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
Willis lived in Palmdale. A passerby spotted his body about 30 feet off the highway and reported it to deputies at 12:49 p.m., according to sheriff's Lt. Joe Mendoza. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:21 p.m. Ed Winter, the coroner's assistant chief of operations, said the body was found near the highway's junction with Big Tujunga Road. An autopsy found that Willis was killed by "sharp force injuries."
Detectives did not believe he was killed where he was found.
"Investigators believe Willis was killed elsewhere and his body dumped off the highway a short time before it was found," the Los Angeles Times reported, citing Mendoza. The Pasadena Star-News reported that the body lay at the end of a 30-foot-long drainage ditch that carries stormwater off the highway and into the forest. "It doesn't appear that the murder occurred there. We think someone just placed the body there," Mendoza told the paper. He said he was not aware of any gang ties on the part of the victim, and he declined to give more details because doing so could hurt the investigation.
The La Cañada Valley Sun reported that the sheriff's department had first described the body as that of an elderly man, and that it "showed signs of upper body trauma." The coroner confirmed his identity six days after he was found.
Beyond those reports, little about the life of Anthony Willis has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found. Anthony Willis is also a fairly common name, and searches turn up several other men who share it, including a film composer in Los Angeles, none of whom has any connection to this death.
The Angeles Forest Highway runs through the San Gabriel Mountains and links the Los Angeles basin with the Antelope Valley, where Palmdale lies. The road winds through steep, lightly populated canyon country in the Angeles National Forest, a vast stretch of public land above the northern edge of the Los Angeles area. Big Tujunga Road meets the highway deep in the mountains, many miles from the nearest town.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Anthony James Willis could be found in news archives or public records. More than eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Someone may have seen a vehicle stopped along the Angeles Forest Highway near Big Tujunga Road on the morning of March 2, 2017, or may know where Willis was and whom he was with in the days before. Anyone who knew him in Palmdale may also hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
