On January 30, 2025, deputies in Oroville, California, found a burned vehicle near Condor Road and Red Tape Road containing two charred bodies. One victim was identified as Juan Daniel Arreola-Solano, 26, of Eureka. A forensic pathologist determined both victims died from gunshot wounds before the vehicle was set on fire.

Investigators say Arreola-Solano and 22-year-old Esequiel Valle-Arellano traveled from Humboldt County to Oroville that morning and were accompanied by two men identified as Wesley Evans, 45, of Rio Dell, and Samuel Ashley, 43, of Ferndale. Detectives report Ashley had been in a dispute with one of the victims over a recent gun and drug transaction. Law enforcement says the group went to a remote area where Arreola-Solano and Valle-Arellano were shot and the vehicle torched.

After a two-week probe, arrest warrants were obtained for Evans and Ashley on murder charges. Both were arrested in Humboldt County on February 10 and transported to the Butte County Jail; they pleaded not guilty on March 5 and face potential life terms. Anyone with information about Arreola-Solano, his movements that day, or the travel from Humboldt County to Oroville is asked to come forward.