Body found in Joshua Tree identified as that of missing Oceanside 20-year-old

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Coroner Department identified a body found Wednesday as a missing Oceanside man.

20-year-old Joseph-John Alvarez Espinosa was dropped of outside of Joshua Tree National Park on May 16 by his grandmother. His family reported a missing persons case on May 20.

READ MORE HERE: HIKER MISSING NEAR JOSHUA TREE FOR 10 DAYS, UNIDENTIFIED BODY RECOVERED IN SAME AREA

On May 26 detectives assigned to the Morongo Basin Station responded to the National Park to assist in the active Search and Rescue operation being conducted by the National Park Service. During the operation searchers located the body of, what was then,  an unidentified male in the open desert within the Joshua Tree National Park boundary.