A California man has been charged with murder following a three-month investigation into the death of a DoorDash delivery driver whose body was discovered inside the trunk of a Tesla. Manuel Adrian Salceda, 39, faces one count of murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with the death of 42-year-old Javier Becerril Jr. of Hollister.
Investigators recovered Becerril’s body on July 9 inside the trunk of a Tesla sedan parked along State Route 152 in Merced County. According to local reporting from KFSN, Becerril regularly fulfilled delivery orders at a Safeway supermarket in Hollister. Following his death, fellow delivery workers established a memorial outside the grocery store to honor him.
The California Highway Patrol stated that Becerril had been assaulted before his body was placed in the vehicle. Salceda has been identified as the sole suspect in the homicide, according to CHP spokesperson Gregorio Rodriguez.
In addition to the murder and weapons charges, prosecutors filed six special enhancements against Salceda. These enhancements include allegations of premeditated murder, threatening or dissuading witnesses, and charges reflecting that the alleged crime involved great violence.
Authorities apprehended Salceda on October 11 without incident at a gas station located on Road 8 near Interstate 5 in Woodland. The arrest followed a tracking operation led by detectives in the CHP Central Division Major Crimes Unit. Investigators stated that Salceda utilized multiple aliases and assumed several identities in an effort to evade law enforcement detection during the three-month manhunt. When detectives learned that a vehicle suspected of transporting Salceda was spotted near Dublin, they tracked the movements across multiple Bay Area counties before intercepting him at the Woodland gas station.
Court documents and records indicate that Salceda has a prior criminal history and has served time in custody. In 2010, he faced charges in Santa Clara County for making criminal threats.
Salceda was arraigned in Merced County Superior Court, and his next court appearance is scheduled for November 4 at the Los Banos Courthouse, according to Moises Onsurez, a spokesperson for the Merced County district attorney’s office. It remained unclear whether Salceda had retained legal representation following his arrest.
