Tulare County Sheriff's Office investigates gruesome murder of Corcoran teen

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Detectives in the South Valley are investigating a murder involving a teenager, who was shot to death and burned.

There isn't much to see where Road 84 meets Avenue 208 in Tulare County.

And there's little left to indicate the area was the site of a homicide investigation Monday morning.

"The crime scene was very gruesome in nature," said Tulare County Sheriff's Sgt. Joe Torres.

Torres says the victim had multiple gunshot wounds and showed signs of being set on fire.

Detectives were not able to identify him at the scene. But they were able to the next day, thanks to forensic analysis done at the autopsy, and a look at the victim's tattoos.

"Unfortunately it was bad news, but at least we were able to identify our victim," Torres said.

Detectives say they can't release the victim's name in order to protect the integrity of their investigation.

They say he's a 17-year-old from Corcoran, whose death has devastated family members.

"They're just heartbroken and they want some answers, and we're hoping we can give it to them, so that's the reason we're asking for the public's assistance in this case," Torres said.

Investigators can't say where the boy was killed, but believe he was brought to the side of Road 84 sometime between Sunday night and early Monday morning.

They say they found evidence that he was set on fire at that location.

Sheriff's investigators are asking anyone who saw something, knows something, or was in this area at the time to give them a call.