Min Gu, 30

Min Gu, a 30-year-old Chinese man, was found dead on Monday, March 21, in the 200 block of Lincoln Avenue in Monterey Park, according to authorities. 

Gu’s badly decomposed body was found in the trunk of his newer model black sedan, which was parked in the residential neighborhood, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Dave Coleman. 

Monterey Park Police officers came to the scene about 6 p.m. after a resident reported a foul odor coming from the car. The officers discovered Gu’s body inside the unlocked trunk, and requested assistance in investigating the case from the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, Coleman said. 

Gu had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:11 p.m., according to coroner’s records. Coleman said Gu was a Chinese national who had been staying in the Los Angeles area and was reported missing on Feb. 22.

Investigators learned that Andy Yalau Chen, 37, was one of the last people to be in contact with Gu before he disappeared, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

When investigators got a warrant to search Chen’s house in the 5500 block of Sultana Avenue in Temple City, they found evidence of the fatal shooting as well as a large number of marijuana plants, Coleman said. 

“Most of the whole second floor was a marijuana grow,” Coleman said. “We found more than 1,000 marijuana plants and several pounds of package marijuana.”

Chen was arrested on and charged with murder and cultivating marijuana on April 6, according to the news release. He is being held on $5 million bail. His arraignment is set for April 22 in Department 5 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court Alhambra Branch. 

The case is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.  

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.