2 Men Fatally Shot Along Road

Police searched for clues Monday in the killing of two men and the wounding of a woman found along Pacific Coast Highway on Sunday, just a few yards from Sycamore Cove State Beach south of Oxnard.

The dead were identified as Levi A. Orellana, 32, and Francisco Orellana Miranda, 36, both of Newbury Park. Authorities have not released the name of the wounded woman pending notification of her family.

Authorities said a motorist spotted the victims on the side of the road about 8:15 p.m. Sunday and contacted a park ranger. Miranda was pronounced dead at the scene with gunshot wounds to the chest. Orellana suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and died shortly after arriving at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

The woman underwent surgery at Ventura County Medical Center and was listed in critical condition.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ronald Nelson said a green Toyota Corolla was found near the scene, but its ownership was unknown.

“We don’t know what happened and we are hoping maybe a member of the public saw something and might let us know,” Nelson said.

Authorities are looking for a man they believe may have witnessed the killings. He is described as a 160-pound white in his late 20s or early 30s who speaks slowly and with a Southern accent. He may be a transient and was last seen wearing a dark denim jacket, backpack and jeans.

Nelson said the killings did not appear to be a murder-suicide because no weapon was recovered.

Friends said Miranda was originally from Honduras, had lived in the United States for seven years and was employed as a maintenance man. Orellana, from El Salvador, had lived in the U.S. for two years and was a gardener. They were not related.

Orellana was sharing a two-bedroom condo with five others in a working-class neighborhood of Newbury Park where many residents are from Central America.

“They were not bad people,” said Carlos Martinez, 18, who lived with Orellana and knew Miranda. “Francisco wanted to go back to his country because he had no family here. They were not gang members. They didn’t mess with nobody.”

Martinez said both men were married and each had three children in their homelands. His mother, Marta Martinez, wept in their living room as she tried to make sense of the killings.

She thought the pair had gone fishing in Port Hueneme on Sunday. After the killings, investigators went to her home to interview her and the other residents. Martinez said she did not know the identity of the wounded woman.

Sycamore Cove, part of Point Mugu State Park, is a beach and picnic area just off a wide, open strip of Highway 1. Sycamore Canyon, across the road, is popular with campers and hikers. Nelson said detectives interviewed campers there after the shootings.

On Monday, teams of search and rescue volunteers along with the Sheriff’s Department combed the beach looking for evidence. Sycamore Cove was closed and large sections of the beach cordoned off. Helicopters flew overhead, skimming the rugged canyons and coastline. Blood was still on the road where the bodies were found.

Campers nearby said they heard a commotion Sunday night as police flooded into the area and a helicopter ferried the injured to hospitals.

“Last night the helicopters came in and shined their lights on the hills behind us,” said Ernest Butters, 68, of Ogden, Utah, who arrived at Sycamore Canyon in his RV on Sunday. “We thought it was an accident scene. But when you hear it’s a homicide, it really makes you think. Makes me wish I brought my gun.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department at 654-2311.

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Times staff writer Amanda Covarrubias contributed to this report.