2 Burned Bodies Found in Car Identified as Santa Ana Men

Investigators Wednesday identified the bodies found in the back seat of a blazing car as Daniel Garcia Alcaraz and Fernando Ceballos Espinoza, both of Santa Ana.

The bodies were discovered Sunday night in an alley behind an apartment complex in the 1100 block of Casa Grande Avenue but were not identified for two days while detectives searched for their relatives, police said.

So far, police have no suspect in the killings of Alcaraz, 31, and Espinoza, 32, Police Sgt. Steve Rodig said.

Espinoza was arrested in October, 1994, by Fullerton police on suspicion of possession of more than $100,000 in drug money. The district attorney’s office decided not to file charges, according to court records. The reason was not available.

Apartment residents said earlier this week that they heard what sounded like an explosion before discovering the burning car, police said. Firefighters who doused the blaze found the bodies. The two men appeared to have been killed elsewhere and then brought to the apartment complex site and set afire, police said.

The double homicide shocked many apartment residents, some of whom have children who play near the alley where the men were found. Resident Amy Gray, who called 911 while her husband tried to extinguish the blaze, said the family plans to move.

“This just hit too close to home for us,” she said. “It was just outside our window.”