NORTHRIDGE : No Cause of Death Found for Bodies Left in Storage

Autopsies conducted Friday on the decomposed bodies of two men and a woman discovered in two trunks and a cardboard box at a U-Haul storage center in Northridge failed to reveal the causes of death, a coroner’s spokesman said.

Coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier said three doctors examined each body, but extensive decay made it impossible to determine the age or race of any of the victims, or how they died. Coroner’s officials may consult a forensic anthropologist, he said.

“It certainly appears that they have been there in the neighborhood of a year or longer,” Carrier said. “It will be at least a couple of weeks before they come to a conclusion as to the cause of their death.”

The bodies were found Wednesday after a man bid on the property that had been abandoned at a storage space at the self-storage facility at 18160 Parthenia St. The man smelled a foul odor and notified police.