Body found by Dry Creek in May identified--death classified as homicide

Roseville Police Department detectives are looking for witnesses or anyone with information about the disappearance and death of 19-year-old John Alpert of Palmdale.

On May 15, someone fishing in Dry Creek near Atkinson Street found human remains near the creek bed. Roseville Police detectives and crime scene investigators examined the scene and collected the remains. It appeared that the person had been dead for a few months.

Roseville detectives worked with the Placer County Sheriff's Coroner's Division to identify the deceased person. In late June, the Coroner identified the deceased person as 19-year-old John Paul Alpert of Palmdale, a missing person from Los Angeles County.

By all accounts, John was a responsible and caring young man who had never been in trouble with the law. He lived at home, helping his parents and attending community college. He left Palmdale in March to have an adventure--traveling north with a group of illegal freight train riders. He had never illegally ridden the rails before. He stopped communicating with his family soon after he left. Concerned for his safety, his family reported him missing to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office on March 25.

Detectives believe that Alpert arrived in Roseville on a freight train between March 16 and 17, where he met his death. His body had unexplained injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, and detectives have classified his death as a homicide.

Detectives need help and information from the public. Anyone who has any information about Alpert's death, or who saw Alpert in Roseville in mid-March, or had any contact with freight train riders in Roseville around that time is asked to call the Roseville Police Department's Investigations Unit at (916)774-5070.

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Got a Crime Tip? Do you have a crime tip about any of these crimes, or any other unsolved Roseville crime? Call us! Email us! Text us! We don't need to know who you are. You can submit a crime tip online by visiting the Roseville Police Department's website at www.roseville.ca.us/police and selecting "Submit a Tip" from the menu on the left. You'll be redirected to TipSoft's website. Wireless phone users can text a tip to 274637 ("CRIMES"). Start your tip with the word "ROSEVILLE".You can also call Roseville Crime Stoppers at 916-783-STOP with information about crimes. http://www.roseville.ca.us/police

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Alarm Permit Renewals Have you received a notice from the Roseville False Alarm Reduction Program to renew your burglar alarm or pay an excessive false alarm fee, asking you to send payments to P.O. Box 749879 in Los Angeles? This is a valid, legitimate message on behalf of the City of Roseville and the RPD. The City of Roseville updated its alarm ordinance last year, requiring annual updates of alarm permits for a $5 fee. These updates help us ensure we have current emergency contact information in case there's an alarm at your house or place of business. We've contracted with an outside company, Crywolf, to handle our alarm ermits and false alarm billing. For more information on our false alarm reduction program, visit our website at www.roseville.ca.us/police, and click on "alarm information" on the menu on the left side of the page. http://www.roseville...s/police

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