Woman says dead motorist found over cliff is her father

The body of a dead motorist who was discovered recently by a second driver who plunged over the same roadside cliff, yet survived, may belong to an 88-year-old former liquor store owner and West Los Angeles resident.
 
Officials have not formally identified the dead motorist, whose decaying remains were discovered behind the wheel of a battered Toyota Camry in a deep ravine in Angeles National Forest. However, the daughter of Melvin Gelfand, who has been missing for two weeks, said Saturday that she is certain the body is that of her father.
 
Daughter Joan Matlack said the description of the dead motorist's vehicle matches that of her father’s and that Los Angeles police investigators told her Gelfand’s identification and car registration were in the vehicle.

According to a Los Angeles Police Department missing persons bulletin, Gelfand was last seen at his West Los Angeles home on Sept. 14. On Saturday, Matlack said she believed her father was headed to a San Diego casino the day he disappeared. How he and his car ended up almost 10 miles north of Santa Clarita, in the opposite direction, she does not know.