Friend held in missing collegian’s death

LOS ANGELES — Three days after the body of a missing man was found buried in a shallow grave in an Orange County park, detectives announced Friday that they had arrested a former high school classmate in the slaying.

Blaze Bernstein, 19, was reported missing Jan. 3 by his family, who became concerned after he didn’t show up for a dental appointment and they found his wallet and glasses in his room. He was on winter break from the University of Pennsylvania and visiting his parents in Lake Forest when he disappeared.

Detectives used Bernstein’s Snapchat account to identify a friend who had picked him up the night before, said Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes. That friend told investigators that he had left Bernstein after he walked off by himself in Borrego Park, Barnes said.

But Barnes said investigators found inconsistencies in what Samuel Lincoln Woodward said. Then, DNA results led to the arrest of Woodward, 20. He was taken into custody on Friday.