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Long Beach Police Puzzled By 5 Homicides

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Nov 3, 2008 8:04 pm US/Pacific

Long Beach Police Puzzled By 5 Homicides

LONG BEACH (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 3: Authorities identified two of the victims as 34-year-old Vanessa Malaepule and 44-year-old Lorenzo Perez Villicana. The others' names are being withheld until their families can be notified.
CBS
Click to enlarge 2 of 3: 5 bodies were found off the 405 Sante Fe freeway off ramp in the dense brush homeless encampment. The investigation is taking some time due to the heavy foilage.
Click to enlarge 3 of 3: Police set up a make-shift station to collect evidence and the 5 bodies found off the Sante Fe off-ramp.

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Police say they have no eyewitnesses and no suspects and have yet to establish a motive for the shooting deaths of five people in Long Beach.

Three men and two women were found dead Sunday in a seedy neighborhood of warehouses and apartment buildings where the
homeless gather near the intersection of two freeways. Some of the victims were shot more than once.

Authorities identified two of the victims as 34-year-old Vanessa Malaepule and 44-year-old Lorenzo Perez Villicana. The others' names are being withheld until their families can be notified.

Officers responded to an anonymous call about 8:30 a.m. Sunday and found the bodies near the Santa Fe Avenue off ramp of the San Diego 405 Freeway, close to West Wardlow Road and the 405 interchange with the Long Beach 710 Freeway, said Long Beach police Sgt. Dina Zapalski.

Police appealed for the anonymous male caller who contacted authorities Sunday morning to come forward.

"We're still trying to find out who (the caller) was. We would love for them to come forward. We believe they have more information than what they gave us," said Long Beach Deputy Chief Robert Luna.

Residents living in nearby apartment buildings reported hearing shouting and several gunshots early Sunday morning, and several said they speculated that drugs were involved in the slayings.

So many shots were fired, "it sounded like fireworks," Leticia Walker told the Los Angeles Times, adding that she was in her apartment about 12:15 a.m. when she heard the noise.

Police did not immediately determine if drugs played a part in the shooting.

Anyone with information on the shooting was urged to contact Long Beach Homicide detectives at (562) 570-7244.

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