WHEN POLICE FOUND AN ABANDONED CAR, THEY HAD NO IDEA IT WOULD UNEARTH A TRUE PREDATOR
In the early hours of 5July 2001, at around 4am, police cruising Highway 23 in Southern California came across an abandoned vehicle. The car’s windshield wipers were activated and the engine was still running, but there was no sign of a driver.
Located at the highway’s exit ramp on New Los Angeles Ave, the suspicious vehicle was found against a concrete divider, as if it had collided with it.
At first, police believed that young revellers celebrating Independence Day had crashed and then fled the scene. But they would quickly realise that something more sinister was at play. Closer inspection of the scene revealed signs that a violent crime had taken place. Six bullet holes were located on the vehicle –one to the bonnet, three to the windscreen, one on the driver’s side door, and one to the passenger side door. Only five green shell casings were recovered, but the car had clearly been hit by a hail of gunfire.
More disturbingly, the inside of the car revealed a blood-soaked steering wheel and driver’s seat. Ablood-stained bag was found inside, and a woman’s sandal was located in the car’s footwell, with the other just outside. Oddly, despite all indications that the driver had sustained an injury, there was no blood trail outside the vehicle.
When officers opened the bag, among other belongings inside, they retrieved a mobile phone. As crime scene investigators radioed in the vehicle’s description and licence plate, they were able to establish that it had been rented the previous day by a woman named Megan Barroso. A team of searchers scoured the immediate area to see if a wounded Megan had crawled to the side of the highway or was on foot trying to get help, but she was nowhere to be found. The young woman had vanished.
A PICTURE EMERGES
The previous evening, all over the US, millions of Americans were enjoying the annual 4July celebrations. Twenty-year-old Megan had opted to celebrate on the beach, where a group of pals, including best friend Lindsay Gross, were having a BBQ. Although the festivities would continue long into the night, Megan left the party alone at 2.45am. It would be the last time she was seen alive. With no sign of her, detectives rushed to interview her friends and family. Soon, they had a picture of a well-loved young woman with no known enemies and no reason to fear for her safety.
Meanwhile, further forensic testing was conducted at the crime scene. Investigators were able to ascertain that the shots fired originated from an AK-47 assault rifle. There was also a large scrape along the driver’s side of the car, suggesting that Megan’s car had come into contact with another vehicle, possibly forcing her
