California
Clues sought after young mother’s body found burning on Southern California freeway
A suspect remains at large in the unsolved murder of a young mother whose body was found engulfed in flames on a Southern California freeway.
On Dec. 17, 2022, the body of Karla Terron, 27, was found on the Hosking Avenue off-ramp of the southbound 99 Freeway in Bakersfield at around 5 a.m.
The night before her murder, Terron had met with friends at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834 in San Fernando.
She later went to a home in San Fernando where she was murdered. Authorities believe her body was transported in the trunk of a white 2021 Honda CRV and later left in Bakersfield.
An autopsy revealed her cause of death was from multiple stab wounds. Authorities believe the suspect lit Terron’s body on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Terron, who lived in San Fernando, was the mother of two young children — an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old. She worked at a nearby restaurant as a waitress.
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Stock photo of vehicle similar to the suspect’s white 2021 Honda CRV that was used to transport Karla Terron’s body from San Fernando to Bakersfield on Dec. 17, 2022. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) -
A press conference held on July 11, 2024 in which LASD detectives are asking for information from the public on the murder of Karla Terron in 2022. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) -
Karla Terron, 27, is seen in a photo from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“She was not affiliated with any kind of gang,” said LASD Lt. Michael Modica at a Thursday press conference. “She was a good, upstanding citizen.”
Investigators received reports a gunshot was heard in the Knox Street area around the time of the incident.
Terron’s cell phone remains missing. Officials did not release information on who owned the Honda CRV but Modica confirmed, “We definitely have people of interest we are looking into.”
Detectives are asking for the public’s help on the case. Anyone who may have seen the suspect’s vehicle near the VFW Bar or on Knox Street between the late-night hours of Dec. 16, 2022, and the early morning hours of Dec. 17, 2022, is asked to call authorities.
Anyone who may have heard gunshots in the Knox Street area that night or who may have found a cell phone in the San Fernando area is also urged to contact LASD.
“We hope people will have the courage to come forward,” Modica said.
Terron’s loved ones remain “devastated they lost a family member and a mother and it’s been very hard on them,” Modica said.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the LASD’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
This autumn brought something that isn’t always common for much of California — a decent amount of rain in October. Rather than heat waves, there have been umbrellas.
After years in which some of the worst wildfires in state history happened in the fall, a lot of people are wondering: Is fire season over?
It depends on where you live, fire experts say. And simply put, there’s more risk in Southern California right now than Northern California.
“We have not yet seen enough rain in Southern California to end fire season,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “But we probably have in Northern California.”
January saw historic, devastating fires in Los Angeles. Since then, it has been a relatively mild fire year statewide in California.
Through Monday Oct. 27, a total of 522,372 acres have burned statewide in areas overseen by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the U.S. Forest Service. That’s a drop of 40% from the previous 5-year average of 1.3 million acres over the same time. A big part of the reason is the early onset of rain.
Through Thursday, San Jose had received 2 inches of rain, more than four times its historical average for the month of October. Oakland had 1.64 inches — double its historical average of 0.84. Sacramento’s total also was double the historical average, and Santa Rosa and San Francisco were at 125% and 113% of normal for the month.
Farther south, Fresno was at 223% of normal, with 1.18 inches, and Los Angeles had received 252% of normal with 1.41 inches. But a few areas, including San Diego and Palm Springs, remain below normal. And nearly all of Southern California’s rain came in one storm on Oct. 15. After that, temperatures have soared back up, hitting 97 in Los Angeles this week.
On Wednesday the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. With forecasts for strong winds that day, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that 129 firefighters, 10 engines and three helicopters would be pre-positioned in case fires started in those areas.
But in Northern California, the trend has been just the opposite.
Cal Fire cancelled a controlled burn planned for Wednesday at the Soquel Demonstration Forest in Santa Cruz County aimed at reducing overgrown brush. The reason: brush and trees were too damp.
The day before, Cal Fire officials had planned to burn 52 acres in San Mateo County in a controlled fire east of Interstate 280 near Belmont and Crystal Springs Reservoir. They gave up after 6 acres because only grass and not heavier vegetation like coyote brush would burn, said Sarah Collamer, a Cal Fire forester who was overseeing the operations.
“We’re still in fire season,” she said. “We are getting small starts. They are going until we put them out. But the fire danger is greatly reduced.”
Illustrating her point, last Thursday, a fire broke out east of downtown San Jose at Alum Rock Park. Cal Fire sent a plane to drop retardant on it. But it was put out at 10 acres and caused no damage. A grass fire that began near Altamont Pass in Alameda County last Sunday burned 20 acres and was easily contained by fire crews.
Moisture levels are key. As most campers know, wet wood doesn’t burn. When California is in droughts and heat waves, moisture levels in plants plummet. After rains and cooler temperatures, along with higher humidity levels, moisture levels go up. Then, fires may start in grass, but they don’t spread easily to damp brush and trees, particularly if there aren’t strong winds.
“Right now you could get a grass fire going,” said Craig Clements, director of the Fire Weather Research Laboratory at San Jose State University. “But whether or not it will end up being a big fire is unlikely. We are seeing the hills green up already from the early rain. It looks like January right now in the East Bay Hills.”
Overall, national experts say California is in good shape. The 7-day forecast from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho has “little or no fire risk” for all of California except part of southern California from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border where it is listed as “low risk.” And more rain is forecast in Northern California on Wednesday.
Fire experts disagree on whether there is an exact amount of rain each fall that signals the end of fire season. Often, supervisors of controlled burns wait until at least 1 inch has fallen, Clements said.
Dan Cayan, a research meteorologist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, published a study in 2022 showing that since World War II, 90% of the acres burned in Southern California have burned before 0.35 of an inch of rain has fallen in autumn. After that, fires can still start during winter dry spells and high Santa Ana winds, he said. But they are much less likely.
“Northern California is doing pretty well,” he said. The dividing line this fall between wetter-than-normal and drier-than-normal runs through L.A. County. We’ve had some slight rain in San Diego, but it has been nearly three weeks with nothing. We’re still in a vulnerable situation down here.”
Many of California’s worst wildfires have occurred in the fall, including the Oakland Hills Fire in October 1991; the Camp Fire in Paradise, in November 2018; and the Tubbs Fire in October 2017, which killed 22 people and burned 5,600 structures in Napa and Sonoma counties.
After those fires, Cal Fire officials and many political leaders began saying that fire season is all year long in California due to warmer conditions from climate change.
To some extent that is true. The devastating wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena this year occurred in January, amid a long, hot, dry spell and winds that reached 100 mph.
But in general, risk goes down when rains start, temperatures cool, and days shorten, experts say. Because of the damp weather this fall, Cal Fire officials have begun to relax back-yard burning rules. Starting Oct. 17, they have allowed it in nearly every Bay Area County and all counties north to the Oregon border, under permits, when it was altogether illegal during the hot summer months.
In winter, Cal Fire stations also reduce staffing from peak levels, although that has not started yet.
“We could still have 80-degree days with winds,” said Capt. Robert Foxworthy, a Cal Fire statewide spokesman. “There’s still a chance of wildfire. We’re not expecting large damaging, destructive fires burning timber and brush because of how much moisture we’ve received. But in some places there is a threat still there.”
Item 1 of 2 The podium for the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is seen at FBI headquarters in Washington, U.S. June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
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On September 11, FBI agents searched Continuum’s Newport Beach, California, offices, law firm Paul Hastings wrote in a September 12 letter seen by Reuters.
Representatives for Continuum did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment. The FBI is an enforcement arm of the Justice Department. Spokespeople for the agencies did not respond to requests for comment. An attorney for Cantor Group said the firm upheld the terms of the Zions and Western Alliance loans and did not provide comment on the government scrutiny.
Allen Matkins, a law firm that represents other entities linked to Continuum, wrote in an October 2 letter that it learned on September 11 that certain of its clients were the subject of search warrants “in connection with a pending criminal investigation,” and that a grand jury had been convened in the case.
Prosecutors typically convene a grand jury when they intend to gather more evidence. The letters did not say which specific criminal authority was leading the case or what potential misconduct or individuals it was focused on.
Criminal investigations do not necessarily mean any wrongdoing has occurred and many do not result in charges.
Reuters is reporting the FBI search and probe for the first time. The government scrutiny could have ripple effects for what legal filings and public records show is a complex web of investors and lenders tied to Continuum’s real estate dealings, some of which are entangled in civil litigation.
Paul Hastings and Allen Matkins are representing parties embroiled in a complex real estate dispute. The letters relate to those proceedings. The Allen Matkins letter was disclosed in a California court.
When asked about the letter by Reuters, a lawyer for Paul Hastings said the firm was “working to unravel multiple levels of alleged fraud,” but did not provide more details.
Allen Matkins did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
PASSIVE INVESTORS
Zions on October 15 sued Cantor Group fund guarantors Andrew Stupin and Gerald Marcil, among others, to recover more than $60 million in soured commercial and industrial loans. The next day, Western Alliance flagged that it had sued the pair and a different Cantor fund in August to recover nearly $100 million.
Both suits allege key information was misrepresented or not disclosed, breaching the loan terms. Western Alliance also alleges fraud on the part of the Cantor fund.
Continuum acquires and manages distressed real estate assets for groups of investors, and its largest investors include Stupin and Marcil, according to a February arbitration ruling related to the real estate dispute. That ruling found Cantor “consists solely” of Continuum’s legal owner, Deba Shyam, and shares the Continuum offices. Shyam did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
Cantor upheld its contractual obligations and was transparent with its lenders, while the loans were audited and independently reviewed multiple times over the years, said the Cantor attorney Brandon Tran, who also represents Stupin and Marcil.
The pair are passive investors in Cantor and held no operational roles, he added. Cantor in legal filings has disputed that the Western Alliance loan is in default.
In a statement, Marcil said he had invested in several of Continuum’s properties. He denied wrongdoing and said that he was a victim.
Spokespeople for Zions and Western Alliance did not respond to requests for comment.
Reporting by Douglas Gillison and Chris Prentice; Editing by Michelle Price
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
California air quality officials have sued four truck manufacturers for breaching a voluntary agreement to follow the state’s nation-leading emissions rules, the state announced Tuesday.
What happened: Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office filed a complaint Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, arguing that the country’s four largest truck-makers — Daimler Truck North America, International Motors, Paccar and Volvo North America — violated an enforceable contract that they signed with the California Air Resources Board in 2023.
The lawsuit comes two months after the manufacturers filed their own complaint in federal court, arguing the agreement — known as the Clean Truck Partnership — is no longer valid after Republicans overturned California’s Advanced Clean Truck rule in June through the Congressional Review Act.
Why it matters: The move sets up a fight to determine whether the federal system or state courts — where CARB would have a higher likelihood of prevailing — will review the case.
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