MALIBU -- Skeletal remains found by hikers in a Malibu canyon are those of a Thousand Oaks man who vanished in 2006, prompting his parents to follow a psychic's advice and search for him in Escondido.

Jeffrey Howard, 40, vanished from home without a trace in December 2006, leaving behind a wife and a newborn child.

Hikers found his body last week in a brush-covered car about 800 feet below the Kanan-Dume Road in Zuma Canyon, authorities said. His identity was confirmed through dental X-rays, a Los Angeles County coroner's officials said.

Authorities had searched the canyons and ravines around Thousand Oaks following Howard's disappearance, but had never spotted his car. His parents, Stan and Thayla Howard, consulted several psychics for clues about where their son went.

One psychic suggested Howard was living and working in Escondido, suffering from a profound form of amnesia. The theory brought his parents to the Escondido area to search for their son several times last year.