The bodies of two men were found in the bed of an abandoned pickup truck in the Santa Cruz Mountains Tuesday, near a park that is popular with hikers, and at least one of the bodies has been identified by a family member.
The bodies were found along Highway 35/Skyline Boulevard, three miles south of Castle Rock State Park, as NBC Bay Area reports, and the station was on hand to film a tow truck arriving with the CHP to tow the pickup truck away.
Both of the deceased were men, and one man's sister has publicly identified him as 45-year-old Sean Pfeffer of Boulder Creek. The other man, the sister tells KSBW, was Pfeffer's friend.
Boulder Creek is a town just a few miles south of the area where the bodies were found.
The cause or manner of death has not been released, but NBC Bay Area reporter Damian Trujillo has subsequently reported that "sources paint a very disturbing picture."
UPDATE:@CHP_HQ says the bodies found in back of a pickup truck on SR-35 near Castle Rock Park in Santa Clara County is now a double homicide investigation.
— Damian Trujillo (@newsdamian) March 27, 2025
Coroner has not ID’d the bodies or released cause/manner of death. But sources paint a very disturbing picture pic.twitter.com/0wZbIATFOc
California Highway Patrol is leading the investigation, which they are now calling a double-homicide. There are reportedly no surveillance cameras in the remote area, and no witnesses have yet been revealed as having seen the two men alive in the area.
It's also not yet clear to whom the pickup truck belonged.
We'll update you as we learn more.
