LANCASTER – Sheriff’s homicide detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of woman found Sunday night in her mobile home in Lancaster, authorities said.
The woman has been identified as 45-year-old Lidia Castillo, according to Ed Winter of the L.A. County Coroner’s Office.
Castillo was found by family members around 9 p.m. inside her trailer at the Desert Palms Mobile Home Park in the 2500 Block of East Avenue I in Lancaster, according to Sheriff’s Homicide detective Ray Lugo.
Family members told detectives they hadn’t seen or heard from Castillo since last Wednesday (June 19), so they went to check on her welfare and that’s when they discovered her body, Lugo said.
The trailer had been ransacked and items were missing, along with Castillo’s vehicle, Lugo said.
Castillo lived at the residence with her boyfriend, who is also missing, homicide detectives said.
Detectives are attempting to locate both Castillo’s boyfriend and her vehicle, described as a red 2007 4-door Chevy Impala with Nevada License Plate #805 YBH. Detectives have not released the name of Castillo’s boyfriend.
Castillo’s cause of death will be determined by the L.A. County Coroner’s Office, detectives said.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
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CONNIE says
Relocators go back. Take your kids with you.
blacque says
Go back to your caucus mountain cave and take your herpes and tuberculosis with you. Like you’re native to this land. GTFOH
rome says
The spirituality of which I spoke is evidenced by compassion for our fellow man and an understanding of our place and duty in this world. I truly thank you for your advice to find some, we could all use an increase in that area.
Please do not mistake my comments as a criticism but simply a reaction to yours. I truly respect your passion and your ability and desire to articulate it.
My mentality is not kill or let die. That, as I said, seems to be society’s sentiment. My mentality is to be as helpful as I can and to promote unity where dissension prevails. I simply used money and education as examples of things that contribute to the ‘barbarianism’ of selfishness, greed, and lack of compassion which breeds hate, envy, murder, etc..
Please do not interpret my response as a challenge or contradiction of yours. I apologize for the implication that you lack spirituality, truly not my intention. I am not directing any of my responses directly towards you, NorthCounty, as much as offering my opinions in addition to yours.
Bless.
NorthCounty says
Thanks Rome. A very mature, honest and humbling response Rome. Thank you. Seriously. We both clarified our posts and responses and did so in a matter that didn’t involve personal insults, negative comments directed at each other’s mother’s or resort to creative misspelled profanity.
Patricia Hayden says
I see nothing has changed for the better, and it won’t change until more parents are held accountable for what their children do. When my son was 14 he made a mistake, we were told never to return to the store to this day I do not shop there, not only was he severely punished by me but had privileges taken away beyond the initial punishment. Now he is a man I am very proud of, in the military, father husband, home owner, treats me very well, is there when I need him, I know I did right by him, and taught him well as to what is right and wrong.
justbeingreal says
WTF does your irrelevant comment about your son have to do with this women’s death ????
justsaying says
What does any of these comments have to do with the death of this woman??? Is there something I missed in the article???
soccer mom says
I personally feel that Mayor Parris needs to refocus himself with the issues we have in Lancaster (section 8, roads, crime, etc). Palmdale should be of no concern until he can get Lancaster to Palmdalae’s level.
Smh says
I agree 100% He need to focus on crime and others thing in ILancaster and stop worry not about fireworks. But the FIREWORKS will go on. Where that SPY plane never seen. He the mayor in lancaster not PALMDALE!
Praying Mother says
UNSAFE PEOPLE HAVE MOVED TO LANCASTER….
justbeingreal says
I AGREE
Desiree Fisher says
Lancaster is not safe anymore
NorthCounty says
Before someone sarcastically replies with “was it ever safe…?” – I’ll reply with a quick YES. We had crime, we had the occasional murder, but at one point this city was a safe place to live. I’m not talking about the roaring 1920’s either – This valley was a safe place up to about 1989. The aerospace bubble burst and as thousands found themselves either out of work or forced to transfer out of state, the combination of a housing boom and aerospace workers forced to walk away from their homes created an environment that was perfect for a criminal depot. This valley didn’t know what hit them and nobody was prepared when within a matter of months the stuff we saw on the news was now a reality in our front yards. If there was any hope that it was just a passing phase, that all went out the window in 1990 when we had our first ‘official’ gang related shooting.
The shooter paved the way for what became an all too familiar common denominator in most of the violent crime that began taking place in the AV; He was a gang member from Los Angeles and his family had recently ‘re-located’ up here to get him away from the gang element. Instead of taking advantage of what could of been a positive opportunity to better himself, he hardened his gang mentality and shot an 18 year old AVHS senior to death at a party.
Here’s a link to the story from 23 years ago in case any bleeding heart ‘hug a criminal’ critic thinks I’m pulling this out of thin air. The shooting was a wake up call that the AV had a gang problem and we were in serious trouble.
http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/antelope-valley-high-school/featured/4
Then it was like the Grapes of Wrath as people flocked up here to take advantage of affordable housing. Many many good people came up here. Owning their own home was no longer a pipe dream or out of their reach. A lot were good hard working folks, but the problem was that a lot of they’re kids didn’t look at the same way. Where mom and dad saw a chance to better their family, a lot of their kids just saw an opportunity to tap into a life of crime. Parents worked and commuted long hours and were away from home, and this only made things worse.
Word spread that the AV was the place to set up shop because you could do what you wanted and get away with it. HUD housing further eroded the valley as the houses could be bought up by the dozen for pocket change.
Were all of the low income residents criminals? Of course not. I met some very good people who are now some of my closest friends because they came up here to better themselves. I also saw the dark side of what happens when hardcore gangbangers arrived because of the cheap housing and plenty of victims ripe for the picking. A pattern that continues today.
We can’t blame Rex either, in 1989 I don’t even know if he was on the radar. Naturally I await the canned comments from people accusing me of being racist, intolerant, etc – However that’s what happened to this valley and anyone that has been here long enough knows that this is not some fantasy story made up by a cranky old white guy that doesn’t want non Anglo’s living on his block. I always smile at the negative feedback directed at my posts regarding the decline of the AV, mostly because everyone assumes I’m a cranky old racist white guy because I blame HUD. I’ve never pointed fingers at any race or ethnicity in my posts. More interesting, I’ve never indicated my ethnicity. It’s ironic that most people who read this would automatically assume I’m a tattoo covered white guy with a shaved head. One doesn’t have to be white to be fed up with crime and point out the correlation between low income housing and crime.
Praying Mother says
WELL SAID WITH HISTORY TO SUPPORT IT….WE ASK THE LORD TO HELP US…BUT WE MUST HELP OURSELVES AS WELL…THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST.
Bob Boswell says
I know how you feel I finley had enoff and moved to Canada..
Rosa says
Exactly right!
Eyes Wide Shut says
What you didn’t mention was the building of the State Prison which opened in 1993. How many of those paroled stayed in the A.V. after their release and went on to commit another crime?
NorthCounty says
You’re absolutely correct – Lancaster State Prison was another catalyst to the rise and epidemic of crime in the valley; ironically this can be attributed to HUD housing too; As the prison filled up the family members of inmates moved out here to be closer to their loved ones. Tired of the inconvenience of making the drive up here to visit an inmate, people instead opted to pack up and move here.
HUD gladly assisted people with finding affordable housing up here. Backlogged burnt out caseworkers were more than happy to transfer clients up here. Desperate homeowners rented to whoever in order to keep their credit from going down the tubes. Those that did walk away from their houses because they had no choice never looked back as HUD took over foreclosed homes.
When an inmate paroles, he is supposed to parole to his home city. Guess where a lot of them started calling home? Of course not every family that had incarcerated relatives housed at Lancaster moved here and went on a crime spree. However a lot of them did, and the cycle continued.
In another ironic twist, we can thank LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina for her instrumental roll in the location of the prison. Way back in 1985 California was dealing with a familiar problem: Prison overcrowding; Since the total majority of California’s prison population were LA County residents, it was logical and reasonable to expect LA County to cough up some money and land for another prison to ease this burden.
A younger Gloria Molina opposed the initial site that was originally proposed to be built in Downtown LA near the old civic center and instead lobbied to have it built up north in (guess where..?) – The AV. Far from the suburbs of Los Angeles but still in LA County. Sound familiar? Even back in ’85 the AV was being used as a septic tank for Los Angeles. Gloria’s attitude hasn’t changed much since then either.
The ‘new’ location was somewhere near Edwards AFB but somehow that location was axed (I’m sure the Government and Air Force used their weight here, along with strong opposition from Mike Antonovich)and after a few years of political drama, Lancaster was chosen as the lucky recipient for a new prison.
Almost everyone was opposed to this idea and were in favor of the original downtown location. Not Gloria. She didn’t want a prison in her backyard. To further prevent this she went as far as authoring a bill that would prohibit any prison from being built within 10 miles of any jail that housed more then 7000 inmates (or some kind of asinine reason) in addition to her claims that the downtown location was too close to Boyle Heights and would not be conducive to inmate rehabilitation – SO Lancaster it was.
Gloria has been hurting the AV for as long as she’s been in office. She burned us in 1985 and almost 30 years later she’s still pouring salt in the wound. Her 2012 decision to freeze funding for inspectors to conduct compliance checks on subsidized housing is just another fine example. Her and her comrades were all for freezing compliance funds – In the AV – Naturally they didn’t oppose compliance checks nor freeze funds for their home cities. They do not care about the AV and as a result, crime is rampant, law enforcement is overworked and unfortunately it will only get worse. As I said, the problems we are dealing with go way deeper then Rex. LA County has been flushing their feces up here for decades, long before Rex was even heard of.
Whytheignoranceppl says
Thank you! I get so tired of individuals from AV blaming EVERY situation on section 8, welfare, LA, and “unsafe” people. No matter where you go there is going to be crime so STOP blaming the system, cities, and programs. The individual is the one who commits the crime. Gosh, just when you think that people have changed, you come across pure ignorance that takes us as a human nation back 50 years. RIP to this women no matter where she was from she did not deserve to die.
Let me a stand says
I agree with you not all people are bad that has Section 8 and on welfare, comes from Los Angeles are bad. This is profiling. Stop the blame game not everyone is bad.
sikntired says
It ‘s true, what used to occur once or twice a year now happens daily.I was driving down 10 th st west today and saw some Jimson weed by the side of the road.When I moved up here in ’88, that was about the biggest drug story here.A couple of times every spring some kids would cook up the stuff and end up in the E.R.
Things sure have changed.
rome says
What about all of the meth problems in the av since before 1989? Why do poor minorities have to be responsible for the deterioration of this former utopia? Times are getting progressively worse all over, not just here. It’s too convenient to blame things on someone else instead of asking yourself how you played a part in it or what you could have done to change things, or even if there was anything anyone could have done. The fact of the matter is that we live in a barbaric society, kill or be killed. Either we all are at fault or none of us are.
NorthCounty says
Rome did I miss something here..? I didn’t mention anything in my post regarding minorities, I merely pointed out that I expected any comments from those who disagree with me would revolve around the assumption that I’m a racist and an angry white man. You proved my point. How do you know I’m not a ‘minority’..? Or was once a poor one as well?
What about all of the meth problems since ‘before’ 1989? What about all of the ones since then? What about the meth riddled driver who drove the wrong way on the 14 fwy last week? These are problems that plague us too. I lay blame were blame belongs, not where it’s convenient. Meth has always been a nasty compliment to crime, and usually violent.
People didn’t start getting shot over dope on a weekly basis up here until the late 1980’s when crack hit this valley and the rest of the nation hard. It wasn’t the local long time dope fiends pulling the trigger either. It was the new breed of dealer and user, freshly relocated from areas where you shoot first and ask questions later. You can argue with me all you want, but don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just relaying the facts of the AV. These are the facts, not my opinion, theory or suspicions. DO the research.
As far as ‘playing my part’ I think I did the right things. I was no choir boy but I finished school, did some young dumb thug missions, but overall I kept my nose clean and got a job and contributed to society instead of milking the system, or resorting to robbing and killing my neighbors when times got rough.
Poverty isn’t a crime, but robbing and shooting people is, and poor or not, anyone who does is a criminal. We don’t live in a barbaric society, we as a society suffer because some people act barbaric.
Kill or be killed? That’s the spirit. Either we are all at fault or none of us are? Okay. So it’s mine and your fault when life gets rough and someone shoots someone? Or is it none of are fault? Please break down the fault and blame guidelines in this interesting system and code of yours. I need to know whether to consult an attorney or a psychologist …
rome says
I don’t think I accused you of being racist, angry, white, or even a man. I was simply trying to point out the condescending tone in your statement. I don’t even necessarily disagree with your statement. I am from the San Fernando Valley and I watched it get progressively worse since the 1970’s and it breaks my heart. It would be easy for anyone to correlate the most obvious changes like population increase or ethnic shift for the deterioration. But the fact of the matter is that our society has increasingly become apathetic. Perhaps not ‘kill or be killed’ but definitely ‘kill or let die’. Let’s remember crack for what it actually was: a way to fund Latin American rebels to prevent the spread of Communism at the expense of our neighborhoods at home. The “barbaric” weapons are now social, whether it is money, education, or the lack thereof. It’s a case of cultural hypnosis and we all are affected, one way or another. It doesn’t matter if you ‘were once poor’ or a ‘minority’. Lots of Euro-Americans can find themselves a minority in many situations. It’s true any where you go whoever you may think you are, this whole system is crashing and burning. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution, there is no middle since apathy and complacency are the enemy of the solution. Sure, consult an attorney and a psychologist. But soon after, find some spirituality.
Bless.
NorthCounty says
Rome the tone of your response seems to have taken a 180 … If you misinterpreted my post regarding the factual and chronological decline of the AV as being condescending in nature, that was not my intention. I’m simply pointing out what happened in the AV. This scenario isn’t unique to the AV, but merely a carbon copy of what has happened across the country and I used the AV as a prime example because it’s relevant from a geographic and logistical standpoint since I live here and experienced the good and bad of the shift.
Me pointing out what happened to the AV is not a bi-product of a lack of personal spirituality on my part, nor am I suffering from a spirituality deficiency. Laying out the facts has nothing to do with spirituality, but if you feel it does, then maybe we both should find some since your mentality went from “kill or be killed” to “kill or let die” – That sure doesn’t imply you’re brimming with spirituality either, so it’s ironic that you suggest I go out and find what you appear to be lacking as well, based upon some of your statements.
I agree that the system is crashing and burning but I’m confused by your theory; You use money and education, or a lack of money and education as two examples of barbaric weapons of society. So which is it? I’m not sure where I would stand under your views of modern society. I don’t have a degree nor am I wealthy so I’m definitely not on the top of the barbaric scale, but I do work and went to school so who knows…?
I prefer to stand in the rational zone where people accept responsibility for their actions, are held accountable, and don’t live with a kill or be killed mentality. It’s not that complicated. Education and money, or a lack of is a poor excuse to justify the woes of society. I view that as a weak scapegoat to justify criminal behavior.
No matter how rich, poor, educated or ignorant one is, they still know that shooting a person in cold blood is wrong, and no amount of college or currency (or lack of) can correct that mental deficiency …
Kizzy says
I understand we can’t blame him, but what I think that he is the mayor now
And he should be doing something to clean his City. And not focusing of what Palmdale
Is doing. Palmdale and Lancaster is the same when it comes to talk about crime.
emailman1 says
This is so true crime is here its been here and it’s everyones job to do their part. Its not about the blame game or what caused it. A town grows and crime grows it has nothing to do with race. Like it or not palmdale is as much as lancaster as van nuys is as much as woodland hills. A lot of the crime that is committed in lancaster is committed by people that don’t live here.
Finally says
With all of the taxpayer money that Rex and the City of Lancaster have spent on the “Eye in the Sky,” it would seem that they would have some way of tracking where the vehicle went. Isn’t that why it’s there? I see crime after crime after crime in Lancaster, and the best use they can find for the EITS is finding a sex offender in a vacant lot. $1.3 million could put a few more boots on the ground for the same price as one eye in the sky.
IJS says
You people need to build an island so you can then think you are safe. Crime happens, it’s a part of life, We are born sinners. What about white collar crime, is it better than these low income housing crime. Why not create more jobs for people, that would create income for these low income housing people, who may really want to work. Raise the minimum wage to something people can live on and not just get by. Change the law so that people who come here illegally can’t get the jobs that the legal citizens can’t get. Change the system. Please don’t forget all the money the AV has made that all these Low Income housing people are bringing. This is one of thee most prejudice cities I have ever been in.
NorthCounty says
Well the next time some stockbroker or sleazy white collar executive gets arrested in Palmdale for carjacking and killing some poor citizen I’ll increase my concern level. If the AV is one of the most prejudice places you’ve ever been then I would venture to guess you haven’t been to many places.
I guess I am prejudice if I find it offensive that in order to not be shot and killed we as a society have to raise, feed, clothe, fund and provide people with well paying jobs so they won’t be so quick to pick up a gun and pull the trigger.
Here’s an idea: Parents need to be PARENTS. It’s not society, teachers, doctors, neighbors, social workers, cops, firefighters, or whoever else’s responsibility to RAISE the kids after they are birthed. Yes, we have a moral responsibility to mentor and ensure mom and dad are doing that. However there seems to be this misconception that once a kid is born, the art and responsibility of parenting and being a parent shifts to everyone else but the biological mom and dad. Then as the kid grows into a dependent adult society is supposed to bang on the door with a great well paying job offer. Sorry, that’s not how it works. Well, at least that not how it should work.
William says
Do you not realize that your attitude as expressed in your comment is what keeps these problems in place?
Study the meerkat society as far as shared responsibility for the young. Yes, those young mammals have a greater sense of responsibility than you apparently do.
I’m sure you won’t like hearing that but who cares? You obviously don’t.