LATIMES.COM S TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019B
CITY & STATE
Two people in Los Ange-
les County have been diag-
nosed with West Nile virus,
in what officials say are the
first two cases in the county
this year.
Both people became ill
with West Nile, which is
transmitted to humans
through a mosquito bite,
late last month and are re-
covering, officials said Mon-
day. One lives in the San Fer-
nando Valley and the other
in the southeastern region of
L.A. County, they said.
“We are glad to hear that
these two people are recov-
ering from their West Nile fe-
ver infections and wish them
well. Every year in Los Ange-
les County, we see cases of
West Nile virus infection,
which can be serious, even
deadly, especially for people
over 50 and those who have
existing health problems,”
L.A. County health officer
Dr. Muntu Davis said in a
statement. “Mosquito bites
aren’t just annoying, they
may make you sick.”
West Nile virus kills Cali-
fornians every year. Last
year, 11 people in the state
died of West Nile, and 44 in
the previous year.
An Imperial County man
died last month after con-
tracting West Nile virus, the
first death caused by the dis-
ease this year in the state, of-
ficials said.
Health officials recom-
mend that people protect
themselves from West Nile
by applying bug repellent,
clearing their yards of stand-
ing water that attracts in-
sects and wearing long
sleeves and pants at dawn
and dusk, when mosquitoes
are most active.
Only 1 in 5 people who
catch West Nile have any
symptoms. But 1 in 150 who
are infected develop a seri-
ous illness that can be fatal,
according to the U.S. Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention. Though serious
illness can occur in people of
any age, it is most likely
among people older than 50.
West Nile virus, first de-
tected in Uganda, wasn’t in-
troduced to California until- The first time scien-
tists in the state isolated the
virus was in mosquitoes in
Imperial County.
Since then, nearly 7,
Californians have been diag-
nosed with West Nile virus
and more than 300 have died
from the illness, according to
state data. The virus has be-
come the most prevalent
mosquito-borne disease in
the United States.
Health experts say that
warm temperatures make it
more likely for mosquitoes
to breed and infect humans
with the virus. This year in
particular, late spring rains
have left standing water,
which provides fertile
ground for mosquitoes to
breed and spread the illness.
To monitor West Nile lev-
els across the state, health
workers test mosquitoes for
the virus and collect data on
dead birds. Mosquitoes
transfer West Nile to birds,
which can kill them, making
the birds a reliable indicator
of how many mosquitoes are
carrying West Nile in a re-
gion.
This year, dead birds that
tested positive for West Nile
have been found in L.A.
County as well as Orange,
Sacramento, San Diego,
Fresno, Merced, Tulare and
San Joaquin counties, ac-
cording to the state’s West
Nile website.
Dreaded
disease
returns
Los Angeles County
says two residents are
recovering from West
Nile virus — its firstsuch cases in 2019.
By Soumya
KarlamanglaWEST NILE VIRUS is
transmitted to humans
through mosquito bites.Marcus YamLos Angeles TimesAuthorities have ex-
panded a search of a large
swath of the San Gabriel
Mountains for a missing
woman whose boyfriend was
arrested last week after a
bizarre performance at an
open mic night in downtown
Los Angeles in which he
rapped about killing and
burying a woman.
Amanda Custer, 31, has
been missing since July 29
when a witness reported
seeing the woman, who was
possibly unconscious, being
loaded into the rear cargo
hatch of a gray 2017 Toyota
Prius outside a home in
Monrovia. When police ar-
rived at the home in the 600
block of Vaquero Road, they
found blood, Los Angeles
County Sheriff ’s Lt. Scott
Hoglund said.
Investigators suspect
Robert Camou, 27, assaulted
Custer and took her from the
home against her will. Later
that day, the Prius was seen
traveling north on Padua
Road in Claremont toward
Mt. Baldy.
Last week, investigators
began searching the Mt.
Baldy area, and on Friday,
they expanded their search
to Lytle Creek. Authorities
say Camou has “great
knowledge” of both areas.
Investigators are asking
anyone who may have seen
the vehicle in that area on
July 29 to contact them.
Sheriff ’s officials did not
immediately provide an up-
date on the search Monday
morning.
Camou was taken into
custody July 30 after police
found him sleeping in the
Prius in downtown Los An-
geles. He is being held with-
out bail on a warrant related
to domestic violence, bur-
glary, battery and assault
charges that were filed
against him in May.
Camou had been ordered
by the court to stay away
from Custer and wear an
electronic monitoring de-
vice, according to prose-
cutors.
Hours before his arrest, a
man who appeared to be
Camou was recorded on vi-
deo at a bar in downtown
performing an expletive-
filled rap about killing and
burying a woman. The Sher-
iff ’s Department is review-
ing the footage, officials said
last week.
Camou has not been
charged in connection with
Custer’s disappearance.
Public records show
Custer lives less than a block
from the home on Vaquero
Road that Camou shares
with his parents. It is notclear when they met, but
Hoglund said the pair had
been dating for at least two
years.
Much of their relation-
ship had been tumultuous,
marred by domestic vi-
olence allegations that be-
came more persistent in the
last several months, accord-
ing to police and Los Angeles
County court records.
In early February, Custer
sought a restraining order
against Camou, alleging
that he was verbally, men-
tally and emotionally abu-
sive toward her. She wrote in
the filing that Camou had
been harassing her with text
messages and phone calls
using “over 100 fake num-
bers” for more than a month,during which time he also
scaled a side fence to her
home and tried to get into
her bedroom.
She told him to leave dur-
ing the late January incident
and sat down on the floor of
her bedroom until she
couldn’t hear him anymore.
When she looked out the
window into her yard, she
saw him carrying a hatchet,
she wrote.
“As he was walking away
with it I opened my window
and asked him if he planned
on taking that too like he
took my book for school,”
she wrote. “He turned
around came running at my
window and broke my dou-
ble pane window with the
hatchet.”Custer alleged Camou
took the hatchet and
smashed the side mirrors off
her grandmother’s car. He is
facing a misdemeanor van-
dalism charge in connection
with that incident. He has
pleaded not guilty, court re-
cords show.
Custer’s petition was de-
nied after a hearing in late
February. Shortly after the
couple left the courtroom,
Camou responded by filing
his own restraining order,
alleging that Custer hit him
on multiple occasions. He
requested $2,000 from her
for counseling and tempo-
rary housing, court docu-
ments show. That request
was dismissed by a judge in
March.Search for Monrovia woman widens
Investigators believe
she was assaulted and
possibly left in San
Gabriel Mountains.
By Hannah Fry
POLICEarrested Robert Camou, 27, last week after he gave a performance at an open mic night in which he
rapped about killing and burying a woman. His girlfriend, Amanda Custer, has been missing since July 29.Irfan KhanLos Angeles TimesFACING UP TO THE AUTHORITIES
Kent NishimuraLos Angeles TimesBobby Gentry of Torrance takes a photo of Kathryn Kidd’s house in Manhattan Beach. A city inspector found short-term renters
in the property in May, and Kidd was fined $4,000. The emojis, with their lolling tongues, zipped lips and big eyes, were her retort.A Riverside high school
student could face felony
charges after authorities say
he tricked his teachers into
revealing their computer
log-in information to polish
his own grades and worsen
others.
Riverside police have
asked the county probation
department to charge the 15-
year-old boy with computer
intrusion, saying he posed
as a high-ranking admin-
istrative official request-
ing teachers’ usernames
and passwords for the
school computer system,
the Press-Enterprise re-
ported.
When the teachers
shared their log-in informa-
tion, the student altered his
grades with higher marks
and also made other stu-dents’ grades worse, adding
comments such as “sleeps in
class,” the news organiza-
tion reported.
The affected students no-
ticed the changes and noti-
fied school administrators,
who contacted police.
The student, who has not
been identified because he is
a minor, is believed to attend
Encore Junior and Senior
High School for the Arts,
the Press-Enterprise re-
ported.
It is unclear if any charges
have been filed or when the
alleged hack took place.The Riverside Police De-
partment and the Riverside
County district attorney’s
office did not immediately
respond to requests for clari-
fication on Monday.
The case comes after
high school students in San
Dimas and Newport Beach
also have been accused in
grade-changing scandals in
recent years.
Most notably, a private
tutor who was paid by Co-
rona del Mar High School
students to hack into their
teacher’s computer to
change grades and stealtests pleaded guilty in 2015 to
20 felony counts of computer
access and fraud and one fel-
ony count of commercial
burglary.
Timothy Lance Lai
pleaded guilty in Orange
County Superior Court and
was sentenced to one year in
jail and five years’ probation
for his role in the cheating
scheme.
The scandal also led to
the expulsion of 11 students
and the resignation of a dis-
trict administrator, who
said officials mishandled the
case.Student hacker could be charged
Teen tricked teachers
into revealing log-ins
and then changed
grades, authorities say.
By Alexa Díaz