Authorities arrest driver and passenger of car after finding large amounts blood and unresponsive man in rear seat

Northern California law enforcement officals pulled over the driver of a Chevrolet Suburban on Easter Sunday morning for a suspected registration violation, and came upon a grisly scene that ultimately led them to two homicide victims.

The California highway patrol said in a statement that two people, the person driving the vehicle and a passenger, had been arrested in connection with the killings. The passenger attempted to flee when officers stopped the SUV in Clearlake, about 100 miles north-east of San Francisco, but was quickly detained, according to CHP.

The officers conducting the stop saw large amounts of blood in the vehicle, John Pinoli, the CHP northern division chief, said in a press conference on Wednesday. They found an unresponsive man in the rear passenger area, who was later pronounced dead.

Officers also discovered a gun near where the passenger attempted to flee, and investigators soon came across another victim, a woman who was found dead down an embankment miles away.