Body found in U-Haul parked in Orcutt
March 20, 2013
Three Santa Maria men are in jail on murder charges after police discovered a body inside a U-Haul truck parked in an Orcutt residential neighborhood. [Santa Maria Times]
Santa Maria police received a tip from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department around 10:35 a.m. Tuesday informing them that a vehicle parked on Los Pardres Road in Orcutt might have connections to a homicide they were investigating.
On Monday, officers searched a Santa Maria house in the 1100 block of West Donovan Road and discovered evidence that a homicide occurred, but could not find a victim. Police determined Tuesday that the man found dead in the U-Haul parked in front of an Orcutt house was the victim of the homicide.
After discovering the body, officers arrested Ramon Maldonado, 37, Carmen Cardenas, 28, and Pedro Torres, 54, for murder and conspiracy to commit murder and booked them in Santa Barbara County Jail.
Late Tuesday night, police began searching for two other men believed to be armed and dangerous and connected to the murder.
Santa Maria police have yet to release the identity of the man found dead inside the U-Haul.
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