Kolby Story case: Possible human remains found amid search for missing woman at Ballona Wetlands

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Police searching for signs of a woman who disappeared from Venice in December discovered apparent human skeletal remains Friday while combing through a 600-acre area of the Ballona Wetlands near Marina del Rey.

There was no immediate confirmation the remains are those of 32-year-old Kolby Story, of Mar Vista, who was last seen Dec. 7, 2020, in the 12300 block of Pacific Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The remains will have to be examined by the coroner's office.

Story's family and friends joined LAPD in a search of the area on Friday after a good Samaritan turned in some of her personal property, which were found at a homeless encampment in Venice.

"She has not been seen since and her family is extremely concerned for her safety," the LAPD said in a statement.

On Friday morning, a search was conducted at the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve and Ballona Creek. Participants included Story's loved ones, police officers on horseback, and K-9 units from the California Office of Emergency Services.

According to Story's family, Kolby was at Venice Beach the evening of Dec. 6 and called a friend asking for help finding her car keys, which she had lost on the beach. They found the car keys and Story got in her car about 2 a.m. Dec. 7 to drive home to Mar Vista. She never made it home.

Her car was later discovered in a Marina del Rey impound lot. The car, with a flat tire, had been towed from a parking lot near a Ralphs grocery store in Marina del Rey.

Story is described as a white woman with brown hair and hazel eyes. She is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 115 pounds.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division at (213) 486-6890.

City News Service contributed to this report.