Man Admitted Killing Roommate, Disposing Body Hundreds Of Miles Away

A California man was arrested Sunday after being accused of killing his roommate and traveling hundreds of miles in order to dispose of the body.

According to a press release, Monday, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department got a tip around 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) that Cameron Scott Lykins, 23, had admitted to killing his roommate, 22-year-old Houston Alexander Auer, and discarding the body. When officers responded to the suspect’s residence in Meiners Oaks, west of the city of Ojai, they found the scene was covered in blood.

“Upon arrival, deputies discovered a bloody scene consistent with a homicide, but no victim. Lykins’ roommate, Houston Auer, also could not be found. Further investigation led to information that Lykins killed Auer during a disturbance that occurred at the residence during the early morning hours. Lykins then removed the victim’s body from the scene,” the press release said.

Inyo County Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol located Lykins in Lone Pine, a town located around 250 miles from Meiners Oaks, at around 1 p.m. PDT. After his vehicle was searched, authorities found evidence that the suspect had tried to transport the body away from the crime scene. After being arrested on the suspicion of first-degree murder, Lykins was brought back to Ventura County and booked into custody at the pre-trial detention facility.

Lykins was being held on a $2 million bail and was scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on May 14.

According to the investigators, although there was enough evidence to conclude that the victim did not survive the attack, Lykins was not cooperating with them in locating his roommate’s body. As a result, Ventura County Crime Stoppers offered to pay up to $1,000 reward for information which assists detectives in their investigation of the case.

“Anyone with information about this crime, or who believes they may have seen Lykins or his vehicle, described as a silver Nissan Frontier truck bearing the license plate number Ca. 39077S1, between the hours of 1:00 am and 9:50 am [PDT] on May 12, 2019, is asked to contact Sergeant Carlos Macias at (805) 384-4761” or call “Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477),” the press release stated.