The bodies of two men missing for nearly three weeks were found earlier this week in a wrecked vehicle off Highway 166 between Santa Maria and the Cuyama Valley. 

On Wednesday, members of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a rollover crash off Highway 166, east of Santa Maria, Tony Cipolla, Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said Friday.

The vehicle was approximately 80 feet below the roadway near Highway 166 and Old Sierra Road, Cipolla said.

“Because the vehicle was so far down the embankment, it was not discovered immediately, until a Caltrans worker found it,” Cipolla said.

“The employee observed an overturned vehicle concealed in heavy brush down an embankment and not readily visible from the roadway,” California Highway Patrol Officer Maria Barriga said Friday.

The area about 39 miles east of Highway 101 falls within San Luis Obispo County’s jurisdiction.

Two bodies were found in the vehicle, with information at the scene leading detectives to tentatively identify the victims as James Fuller and Eric Fuller. 

“Because their bodies were in a state of decomposition, they were not positively identified. DNA tests will need to be used, and that process could take several months,” Cipolla said. 

The men’s families were notified about the discovery. 

“At this point, we do not suspect foul play, and it is believed to be accidental,” Cipolla added.

On June 10, the agency took a report about a missing person when a friend of 61-year-old James Fuller reported him missing after not having contact with him for approximately four days, Cipolla said.

The friend told deputies he had last seen James Fuller with his brother, Eric, Cipolla said, adding that the information was added into the missing person system.

The report on James Fuller listed addresses in Grover Beach and New Cuyama, Cipolla said. The agency did not have a hometown for Eric Fuller.

Last weekend, a relative of the missing men began circulating posts on social media.

James Fuller (also known as Rick) and Eric Fuller, 60, left Cuyama around 3 p.m. June 6 en route to Santa Maria for a scheduled doctor’s appointment, according to the social media post.

They were traveling in a blue 1998 GMC two-door truck with extra cab.

“This is highly unusual and completely out of character for both of them,” the post by Krystle Scott said of the disappearance of her father James “Rick'” Fuller and uncle Eric Fuller.

Barriga said CHP units and a fixed-wing aircraft were deployed along Highway 166 near New Cuyama to search for the missing person and their vehicle on June 18, but neither was found at the time.

After the discovery of the men’s bodies, Scott created a GoFundMe page, Heartfelt Support for James and Eric’s Family, to help with funeral and burial expenses.

“It is with unimaginable sadness that we share the search for James and Eric Fuller can come to an end,” the GoFundMe page said. 

“For 21 long days, we searched tirelessly. We hiked what we could, followed every lead and even received a message from someone who said they saw the truck near a sharp turn. 

“Still, without a pinpoint location, CHP was unable to search due to looking a few days earlier with not luck. The wait, the helplessness, the pain — it’s been devastating beyond words.”

The family conducted their own searches, but remained frustrated at the lack of support from law enforcement agencies.

“I felt all alone. I just wanted to find him,” said James Fuller’s longtime partner, Kimberly Fish.

She called him a nice soul, and said survivors also include two daughters, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

“He was just a happy fun person,” she added.

Fish and James Fuller divided their time between the Central Coast and Marysville, she said.

Eric Fuller of Oklahoma had recently reunited with his brother and was remembered being sweet and “a country guy” who loved his kids.

Funeral arrangements reportedly are being handled by Marshall-Spoo Sunset Funeral Chapel in Grover Beach, the family said.