California IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : 2 Boys Found Dead in Refrigerator

Two boys have been found dead inside an abandoned refrigerator after they apparently became trapped and suffocated, the San Diego County coroner’s office said. Playmates Jesse Ray Lyons, 4, and Ronald Johnson Jr., 7, had been missing for six hours before they were found inside the appliance by a man walking his dog. “He heard a cat crying and followed the call,” said Deputy Coroner Jack Larkie. “He opened the door and found the cat and the two boys inside.” Larkie said the refrigerator was discarded in the front yard of a home in an East San Diego neighborhood a few days ago. The refrigerator’s door had originally been taped shut, Larkie said, but had not been removed or disabled so that it would not shut tight. The owner of the refrigerator, whose name was not released, was cited for abandoning an appliance without disabling the door and could be sentenced to a year in jail, police said.