Human skull found on L.A. County beach prompts investigation

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, along with investigators at the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department, are working to identify human skeletal remains found on a local beach over the weekend, officials announced.  

Details are limited, but in a news release, authorities with the police department said that a person at Rat Beach, in the 300 block of Paseo Del Mar, spotted what they believed to be a human skull along the low-tide waterline.  

After they were informed of the discovery, officers and detectives with PVEPD responded to the beach and located additional skeletal remains.  

Investigators with the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to assist in the investigation and confirmed that the bones were those of a human.  

After the announcement, which the police department also posted to social media, some discussion in the comments section focused on if the remains might be those of Michael David Vanzandt.  

The 36-year-old Air Force veteran and father of three was last seen on surveillance cameras walking down the Hermosa Beach Pier Plaza on March 5, 2016, a little more than five miles away from the 300 block of Paseo Del Mar where the new remains were recently located.  

More than eight years later, Vanzandt’s disappearance remains unsolved.  

“The PVEPD and the L.A. County Coroner’s Office are currently handling the investigation and working toward identification,” authorities said of the bones discovered at Rat Beach. “There is no available information on the possible age or gender of the remains, nor is there information regarding the date or cause of death.