SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office still has not publicly released the identification of two sets of remains found in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Relatives of the victims, however, have already been told their loved ones are dead, insiders told CBS 8.
On September 17, a hiker found skeletal remains in Harper Canyon believed to be the body of John Fitzpatrick, 52.
Then on October 28, the San Diego County Sheriff’s search and rescue team found more remains believed to be those of Fang Jin, 47, a Chinese tourist who flew out to meet Fitzpatrick after communicating with him on social media.
Responding to questions from CBS 8 about the discovery of Jin’s remains, a spokesperson for San Diego Sheriff’s wrote, “I can confirm remains were located in the Anza Borrego Park. The remains were located in the general vicinity of Mr. Fitzpatrick's. The remains have not been positively identified by the Medical Examiner's office at this time."
Attorney David Schmidt has been working on the case with Jin's family.
“She came here for romantic purposes and had been texting him for something like six months prior to coming here. And they definitely had rapport. And her expectation was that he was going to show her around the area, Morongo Valley, Morongo Basin, Joshua Tree State Park, and see whether the relationship developed,” said Schmidt.
In January, while Jin was still in China, Fitzpatrick texted her a message saying, "I used to live in Borrego Springs in the desert as a kid." Then in June, he texted her, “We could start a camping channel taking Chinese out to the desert and I could teach them camping skills from a Navy SEAL. How to read maps for hiking and how to find water in the desert. Make all different types of shelters.”
Jin flew into LAX on July 14. The couple mysteriously went missing on July 22.
Fitzpatrick's truck was found on September 4 abandoned with multiple flat tires a few miles away from where the bodies were found.
CBS 8 filed a public records request with San Diego County Sheriff as well as California State Parks requesting call for service logs related to the discovery of the bodies and the location of the abandoned truck. Both agencies declined to release the records citing an ongoing investigation.
A public records request seeking San Bernardino County Sheriff calls for service to Fitzpatrick's mobile home in Morongo Valley is still pending.
CBS 8 obtained satellite photos of the Harper Flat area taken on October 2. The broken-down truck was not observed in the photos.
“I hope that you can, through your efforts, get them to come clean with the public, as they should have done a long time ago, especially now that it's apparently reached a conclusion. They need to let the public know what they found and be upfront,” said attorney Schmidt.
A cause of death for the couple also has not been released, as their autopsies remain sealed at the request of the San Diego County Sheriff.
WATCH RELATED: Ex Navy SEAL found dead in desert, woman companion still missing