Shooting clues build

Investigators are seeking a sport utility vehicle in connection with the fatal shooting four months ago of two 17-year-old Yuba County teenagers who were fishing in the Sutter Bypass.

A $10,100 reward is being offered for information leading to arrests in the deaths of cousins Keng Yang and Xao Yang, Sutter County Sheriff Jim Denney said at a Tuesday press conference.

Denney described the SUV as a brown Toyota Forerunner or Nissan Pathfinder occupied by young Asian males.

Earlier in the investigation, a white Ford F150 pickup was being sought. That vehicle was located and found not to be involved, said Denney.

The shooting occurred the day before Thanksgiving a short distance north of Highway 20.

At least three other youths were with the Yangs but have been “minimally cooperative” with investigators, Denney said.

“We believe they know the assailants” and the reason for the shooting, he said.

Denney said the shooting has not been classified as gang-related.

Ten relatives of the victims attended the press conference, including Lee Pao Yang, father of Keng Yang.

“I beg anyone who knows (who the killers are) to help me,” Yang said through an interpreter.

After the shooting, Yang said, “I didn't feel like living anymore. I had a happy life. Now it all seems bad.”

Keng Yang, who had plans to join the Army, “was an upstanding family member. He's been gone four months and I'm crying four months. He's never left my heart,” said Yang.

Community leaders who want to solve the case have, in a sense, kept his son alive, the father said.

Denney said two detectives, including one who speaks the Hmong language, are still working full time on the case and have conducted more than 20 interviews. Other agencies are helping, including the Sacramento Police Department, he said.

The reward is being offered by the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, which tries to raise awareness of missing persons and violent crime victims.

An anonymous donation of $100 was added to the usual reward of $10,000, a foundation spokeswoman said.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young can be reached at 749-4710. You may e-mail him at ryoung@appeal-democrat.com.