The California Highway Patrol is investigating a possible homicide after a Hollister father was found dead in the trunk of a Tesla parked on the side of a Merced County highway last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The agency received a report on July 9 of a missing person believed to be near State Route 152 east of Lower Cottonwood Road,\u00a0CHP said in a statement. When CHP officers and Merced County sheriff’s deputies responded to the site, they found a Hispanic man dead in the trunk of a white Tesla sedan.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday,\u00a0CHP identified the victim as 42-year-old Javier Becerril Jr. A family fundraiser <\/a>described Becerril as a beloved father, son, brother and cousin with a “generous spirit.”\u00a0<\/p>\n “His smile, laughter, and the memories he created with family and friends will never be forgotten,” fundraiser organizers wrote. “Although our hearts are shattered, we find comfort in knowing that he is now at peace and free from pain.”<\/p>\n The fundraiser had received more than $14,000 in donations by Wednesday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n No other information was released about the circumstances of\u00a0Becerril’s death, which is being investigated as a homicide by CHP.\u00a0<\/p>\n Subscribe<\/p>\n There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25\u00a2.<\/a><\/p>\n