Female Victim ID'd, Witnesses Sought

Police in Newport Beach continue to seek clues and witnesses as it tries to determine how a 23- year-old Long Beach woman died inside a Newport Beach business complex.

Police were alerted to a problem involving Sarai Alcaraz after friends called authorities early Tuesday morning and said they were concerned about her welfare.

“At this point, the case has not been confirmed to be a homicide, but we are investigating as if it is a homicide,” Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said in a telephone interview.

Police received a call at 12:11 a.m. Tuesday requesting a welfare check, and officers went to a business complex in the 5000 block of Campus Drive, she said.

“We had a couple friends who were concerned about their friend. The original caller was female, she was off away somewhere, but had a male friend looking for this missing gal,” Manzella said.

“She (Alcaraz) had stopped responding to phone calls and text messages, so they were concerned for her welfare. They had some idea of where she should be, so helped officers narrow down the area.”

Police declined to say whether the body bore signs of trauma, although KTLA reported there were no obvious signs of trauma.

“We have one clue -- we do have a witness in the area who saw a white van near the building,” Manzella said. “It was a time of night where there’s not that many people in the area, so we’re hopeful that they might have some information that can help us.”

Detectives were interviewing people who work in the building, canvassing the area and checking for surveillance cameras, she said.

“As to what her (Alcaraz’s) connection to this building is, we’re still working to establish that, as well,” Manzella said.

According to a press release from NBPD, Alcaraz was found inside a building at 5030 Campus Drive, which is near the corner of Teller Ave.; Teller is between Jamboree and Von Karman.

Part of Newport Corporate Plaza, the Robert Borders & Associates is the name listed on the building identified as 5030, which is part of a cluster of brick office buildings located on the property.

Alcaraz had been last seen at the building “an hour or two” before friends called for police assistance. The callers had searched for Alcaraz after being unable to contact her. Officers located the body shortly after 1:30 a.m.

Anyone with information on Alcaraz’s death was asked to call the Newport Beach police hotline at (800) 550-NBPD.

-City News Service