Clues sought after young mother’s body found burning on Southern California freeway

A suspect remains at large in the unsolved murder of a young mother whose body was found engulfed in flames on a Southern California freeway.

On Dec. 17, 2022, the body of Karla Terron, 27, was found on the Hosking Avenue off-ramp of the southbound 99 Freeway in Bakersfield at around 5 a.m.

The night before her murder, Terron had met with friends at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834 in San Fernando.

She later went to a home in San Fernando where she was murdered. Authorities believe her body was transported in the trunk of a white 2021 Honda CRV and later left in Bakersfield.

An autopsy revealed her cause of death was from multiple stab wounds. Authorities believe the suspect lit Terron’s body on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Terron, who lived in San Fernando, was the mother of two young children — an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old. She worked at a nearby restaurant as a waitress.

“She was not affiliated with any kind of gang,” said LASD Lt. Michael Modica at a Thursday press conference. “She was a good, upstanding citizen.”

Investigators received reports a gunshot was heard in the Knox Street area around the time of the incident.

Terron’s cell phone remains missing. Officials did not release information on who owned the Honda CRV but Modica confirmed, “We definitely have people of interest we are looking into.”

Detectives are asking for the public’s help on the case. Anyone who may have seen the suspect’s vehicle near the VFW Bar or on Knox Street between the late-night hours of Dec. 16, 2022, and the early morning hours of Dec. 17, 2022, is asked to call authorities.

Anyone who may have heard gunshots in the Knox Street area that night or who may have found a cell phone in the San Fernando area is also urged to contact LASD.

“We hope people will have the courage to come forward,” Modica said.

Terron’s loved ones remain “devastated they lost a family member and a mother and it’s been very hard on them,” Modica said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the LASD’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.

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