Coroner Confirms Remains as Kramer’s

Coroner’s officials confirmed Thursday that human remains found over the weekend in the Santa Monica Mountains are those of Thousand Oaks businessman Philip Taylor Kramer.

Los Angeles County coroner spokesman Scott Carrier said dental records were used to identify Kramer, who once played bass for the rock group Iron Butterfly.

Kathy Kramer said she felt a sense of relief that the long search for her missing brother had ended but was also saddened.

“I just get overcome that I’m not going to see my brother as long as I live. Maybe later, if I’m as good as he was, I’ll see him in heaven,” the Newbury Park resident said.

The news came Thursday afternoon, which was also the birthday of Kramer’s mother.

“She takes it as a gift because she knows he’s not suffering or starving somewhere,” Kathy Kramer said.

Kramer disappeared more than four years ago. His van and remains were found May 29 by hikers in a canyon off Decker Canyon Road about 1 1/2 miles east of Pacific Coast Highway.

Kramer, 42, was last heard from Feb. 12, 1995, after he called his wife and a friend on his way home from Los Angeles International Airport. About noon that day, he called 911 and announced that he was going to kill himself, officials said.

Police have said the final phone call and financial troubles indicated suicide. But the family thinks that Kramer may have been the victim of foul play.

Kramer, who was also a mathematician, believed that he was getting close to a discovery that would make it possible to send information faster than the speed of light. That process is still considered scientifically impossible. He also had worked as an engineering specialist on a U. S. missile program in the mid-1980s.

The family has suggested one or both of these connections made Kramer a possible murder target.

Iron Butterfly is best known for its 1969 album “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” which spent 81 weeks in the Top 10. Kramer joined the band when it was revived in 1975.

Coroner officials said Thursday that they will try to establish a cause and manner of death, which could take months.