Police Confirm Body is Missing Teen Norma Lopez

MORENO VALLEY –– Authorities have confirmed that a decomposed body found in the desert is 17-year-old girl Norma Lopez.

Sheriff's spokesman Joseph Borja said Wednesday they identified the body of Norma Lopez through dental records.

The body was found in a thicket of trees near Theodore St. and Dracaea Ave. by a resident who immediately called police.

Lopez vanished Thursday while walking home from a summer school class at Valley View High School.

Detectives say Lopez was expected to meet her younger sister and a friend at the girls' home in the 27000 block of Cottonwood Avenue.

Family members told police Norma usually walked home from school south on Nason Street to Dracaea Avenue and then took a shortcut through a field south to Cottonwood.

When she did not arrive, her family searched for her for two hours, according to Borja.

Items belonging to Lopez were found in a field near her home and there also were signs of a possible struggle.

Authorities did not want to reveal the contents of those belongings, citing the ongoing investigation.

A newer model green-colored SUV was seen in the area of Norma's disappearance.

Borja said the SUV was not considered a suspect vehicle, but they wanted to interview the driver in hopes of learning additional information about the circumstances of Norma's disappearance.

That vehicle has still not been identified.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Moreno Valley Police Hotline at 1-877-242-4345.
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