Body found near hiking trail where woman went missing

The Riverside County Coroner’s Office was still attempting Tuesday, Sept. 5, to identify the woman’s body found on Friday on a hiking trail west of Murrieta, authorities said.

The body was discovered near the trailhead to Tenaja Falls in the Cleveland National Forest. That’s the same area where Jennifer Kinsella-Grindle, 41, of Murrieta went missing Monday, Aug. 28.

Although her husband, Tom Grindle, wrote in a Facebook post Saturday that he had been notified that “our beautiful, loving, caring, intelligent, Jennifer has left us” and referenced planning a memorial, Grindle said in an interview Tuesday that authorities had not given him official confirmation of her death.

A Riverside County sheriff’s spokesman said Tuesday that he didn’t know the cause of death of the woman whose body was found Friday or whether foul play was involved.

“We’re not ruling anything out at this point,” Deputy Michael Vasquez said.

Some who hike the trail have expressed concern about their safety since Kinsella-Grindle disappeared. Vasquez advised that all hikers should bring a phone and water, not go hiking alone and let others know where they are going.

Kinsella-Grindle, a mother of three, left her home Aug. 28 to go for a hike on the Tenaja Trail but never returned home, authorities said. Her car, purse and cellphone were found near the trail. A bloodhound brought out by sheriff’s deputies lost her scent halfway down the trail, a family friend said.