Bakersfield brothers found in Burbank car were shot to death, coroner says
Two brothers who were found dead in an abandoned car in Burbank earlier this week were shot and killed, coroner’s officials determined Saturday.
Jan Carlos Amiama, 21, and his 23-year-old brother Lucas Josh Amiama died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.
The bodies of the brothers and a third victim were discovered in the 1300 block of South Varney Street in Burbank just after 7 a.m. Tuesday, when a parking officer responded to a report about a Jeep Patriot that hadn’t been moved in a while.
The officer noticed an odor emitting from the vehicle and saw a person inside who appeared to be dead.
The third victim has yet to be identified, and a cause of death remains unknown. A spokesman for the coroner’s office was unable to offer additional information Saturday.
The Amiama brothers had been reported missing in Bakersfield last weekend, authorities said. Their family said they were traveling to a Riverside home with a friend, Carlos Lopez.
Sgt. Derek Green, a Burbank police spokesman, said earlier this week that local detectives and investigators from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department had obtained a search warrant for a home in the 5200 block of Stone Avenue in Riverside where the three were said to have gone.
By Thursday afternoon, Green said, enough evidence was found at the Riverside home to suggest the three men had been the victims of a crime there.
Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
