Sheriff's Confirm ID of Suspected Gunman Found Dead

Los Angeles County Coroner's investigators and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide investigators confirmed Tuesday--as first reported on Patch Monday--that the body of a man found Monday morning in the Chantry Flat area of Angeles National Forest is that of Kevin Wolfe Pochter.

Authorities believed Pochter, 53 of Huntington Beach, allegedly shot to death Dean Albert, a lifelong friend. Albert's murder ignited a massive weekend search throughout the San Gabriel Mountains for Pochter, whom deputies described as armed and dangerous. A hiker found Pochter dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Monday.

"We want hikers, area workers and the public to know that no other suspects are being sought in this homicide," Sheriff's Homicide Detective Ray Lugo said in a released statement. "The case is closed."

According to the sheriff’s department, the area where Pochter was found was approximately six miles from Mount Wilson, where Albert's car was found abandoned. The distance between the two locations is a steep slope of rugged terrain, about 3,000 vertical feet lower than the where the car was found.

On Thursday, a passerby discovered Albert lying on the side of Big Santa Anita Canyon Road, south of the Chantry Flat Recreation Area, authorities said. He was suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body, and transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The massive search stretched over 62-miles of rugged terrain and involved patrol deputies from several sheriff's stations, Mounted Enforcement Detail deputies, K-9's, sheriff's reserve deputies on Search and Rescue Teams, U.S. Forest Service rangers, and the Arcadia, Sierra Madre, and Monrovia Police Departments, according to the sheriff's department. The sheriff's deparment pointed out that the Sierra Madre Search & Rescue team was of particular assistance. It included a large number of dedicated community volunteers.