Detectives dig for possible body buried at 'problem' Carson house

Using shovels, power tools and a cadaver-sniffing dog, coroner’s investigators dug up the front yard of a Carson rental home Thursday in search of a body reportedly buried there.

The search in the 21600 block of South Prospect Avenue turned up nothing through midafternoon, and investigators kept mum about whoever the murder victim might be.

The tip that prompted the digging apparently came from a minor in protective custody, whom detectives described as a credible source. As reporters and cameras looked on, the juvenile was brought to the scene to show investigators where to look. Deputies asked media not to shoot video or take photographs to protect the minor’s identity, which was shielded with large sheets held up to block the view of spectators.

After the tipster’s visit, investigators with shovels and a power auger focused on the house’s front yard, digging up an area behind a trellis-like white fence at the sidewalk and next to a palm tree.

Neighbors stood down the street watching, wondering who might be dead, hoping it wasn’t a child.

“Honestly, they should just tear that place down,” said one resident who asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation. “It’s right near a church. It’s right near a school.”

Sheriff’s homicide Lt. Joe Mendoza described the 792-square-foot, Spanish style, two-bedroom, one-bathroom residence as a “problem house,” where deputies had visited before for various troubles.

He declined to give specifics on the investigation. Residents said tenants, including a couple of adults and children as young as 3, rented the home a few months ago, but were long gone.

Neighbors in the surrounding community where the east-west streets are named for nine of the first 10 presidents of the United States — John Quincy Adams was not included — said the area had taken a turn for the worse over the years as gangs infiltrated the area.

One resident used the word “chaos” to describe activities at the house where the dig was conducted Thursday, saying neighbors cross the street to avoid it when walking their dogs.

“I just always thought it was a tweaker house or something,” said another neighbor.

In June, a gunman killed 19-year-old Cynthia Abriz of Wilmington about a block away at Carson Street and Evonda Avenue. Deputies said someone walked up behind her and shot her after she left a party.

Later, helicopters circled the area when a possible suspect ran into the house on Prospect Avenue to hide. After a standoff, deputies arrested Alexander Espino, 19, of Compton,

Property records show the house is owned by “Quadmar LLC,” which has a post office box in Hermosa Beach. The California secretary of state’s website identified the agent for the limited liability corporation as Marco Diaz with an address on Arrow Highway in Upland.

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Property records show Diaz was the owner of the house before selling it to Quadmar in 2011.