2 brothers reported missing found dead off California highway

Two men in their 60s, brothers, who were reported missing earlier this month, were found dead in an overturned pickup truck off State Route 166 in Santa Barbara County last week, according to friends and family.  

James Fuller, 61, and Eric Fuller, 60, were reported missing by a friend days after the pair headed out on June 6 for a doctor’s appointment in Santa Maria, according to SFGate. 

Officers with the California Highway Patrol were dispatched on June 18 to search for the missing men along the highway, though they were unable to locate them at the time.  

It wasn’t until June 26 when a California Department of Transportation worker spotted the 1998 GMC Sierra pickup overturned in an embankment and hidden in heavy brush off Highway 166 near Old Sierra Madre Road, east of Santa Maria, at around 10:30 a.m., CHP said in a news release.  

Authorities confirmed two men were found dead inside the truck, and while CHP is awaiting DNA test results for official identification, the brothers’ family confirmed their deaths in a GoFundMe.  

“For 21 long days, we searched tirelessly. We hiked what we could, followed every lead,” the family said in the post. “The wait, the helplessness, the pain – it’s been devastating beyond words. This is not the outcome that any of us prayed for. Our hearts are broken.”  

No information about the exact cause of the crash was provided.