LUCERNE, Calif. – Sheriff’s officials have confirmed that a body found in Lucerne on Tuesday afternoon is that of a young Northshore woman missing since late December.
Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed early Wednesday evening that the body of 23-year-old Kimberly Marie Hazelwood of Nice was discovered on the shore of Clear Lake in Lucerne.
Brooks said that at approximately 2:10 p.m. Tuesday Lake County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies responded to the 6000 block of E. Highway 20 in Lucerne for a report of a possible coroner’s case.
He said it was reported that a homeowner had located what appeared to be the body of a female along the shoreline of a public beach access area.
Northshore Fire personnel also responded to the location, along a narrow stretch of Highway 20 at the east end of Lucerne, to help recover Hazelwood’s body.
Brooks said a coroner’s investigation was conducted and the individual was positively as Hazelwood.
Hazelwood had disappeared from her aunt’s residence in the 10000 block of Rancheria Road near Upper Lake on the night of Sunday, Dec. 23.
Her family had told deputies that Hazelwood, who had been undergoing treatment for cancer, had been upset and appeared to have been depressed that night, according to a sheriff’s report.
Not long after she disappeared, a report had been made of a subject in the water in nearby Middle Creek, which empties into Clear Lake, as Lake County News has reported.
Since her Dec. 23 disappearance, local officials – as well as her family and friends – had conducted numerous searches with the help of local, regional and state agencies in and around the Upper Lake area where she was last seen.
Hazelwood’s family and friends also had used fliers and social media to try to find clues as to her whereabouts.
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