UPenn student was reportedly stabbed 20 times before he was buried in California park

A University of Pennsylvania student who went missing in California two weeks ago was stabbed more than 20 times before he died, according to a report.

Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old who returned to his home in Southern California during winter break, was found buried in a shallow grave in Lake Forest one week after he was last seen on Jan. 2.

Authorities are investigating the stabbing death as a possible act of rage, according to the Orange County Register. No weapon has been found.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, a 20-year-old who knew Bernstein from high school, was arrested Friday on suspicion of homicide after the victim’s blood was found on his sleeping bag, according to the Register.

Woodward was interviewed by investigators after Bernstein was reported missing by his parents on Jan. 3.

A sheriff’s investigator wrote in court filings that Woodward appeared nervous, had scratched hands and dirt under his fingernails, and avoided touching doors with his hands while leaving the sheriff’s office building.

Bernstein may have been planning to sexually pursue Woodward, according to a 16-page search warrant affidavit obtained by the Register.

Bernstein texted two female friends about a June interaction with Woodward, according to the affidavit. Bernstein wrote that Woodward was about to “hit on me” and “he made me promise not to tell anyone.”

Woodward also said Bernstein kissed him on the lips at a stop before the park, and that he pushed him away, according to the affidavit.

Investigators said in the affidavit that as he recounted that part of his story, Woodward clenched his jaw and his fists, saying “he wanted to tell Blaze to get off of him.”

Woodward also told investigators that Bernstein entered the park alone and then he waited for Bernstein for an hour before driving to meet with a girlfriend, the Register reported.

But Woodward could not remember his girlfriend’s last name or where she lived, according to the affidavit.

Authorities searched for Bernstein for nearly a week with assistance from drone pilots and found his body on Tuesday after recent rains partially exposed it.

The death of Bernstein rocked the community of Lake Forest, 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles, where the teen’s death was the first homicide reported in at least four years.

With News Wire Services