Missing Santa Ana woman’s body found in a car in Buena Vista Lake

A human leg was found on the shore of Buena Vista Lake back on July 28, 2018.

Many residents asked the County to drain the reservoir when the leg originally washed ashore. Instead, the car and body remained in the lake until July 12 of this year, when it was pulled out with a body inside, according to Bakersfield Tuff.

The body has finally been identified as Shirley Mae Cassel, a Santa Ana resident who was last heard from on 08/21/2017 at 7:00 a.m. It is believed that she left in her white 2005 4-door Nissan with California license 6GLV341. She was never seen again – until now.

Boaters and recreational users had no idea all this time as they enjoyed themselves at Buena Vista Lake that there was a car and a body in the lake.

The Lighting in a Bottle Festival also attracted thousands of people from all to the area and quite a few of them had a great time at Buena Vista Lake.

Cassel’s family unfortunately had to wait many years to find out what happened to their missing relative.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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