Murder-suicide seen in desert deaths of California couple
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Southern California authorities say the deaths of a young woman and man who vanished in Joshua Tree National Park last summer were a murder-suicide.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said Friday that the bodies found Sunday were identified as 20-year-old Rachel Nguyen and 22-year-old Joseph Orbeso, both of Orange County.
A department statement says autopsies found both had gunshot wounds and that evidence at the scene led detectives to believe Orbeso shot Nguyen and then himself.
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Orbeso's actions remain under investigation.
The couple was reported missing July 28 when they failed to return to a bed-and-breakfast, whose owner believed they went hiking in the park where temperatures topped 100 degrees. A huge search effort failed to find them.
A small team found the bodies Sunday in a steep canyon.