Seven months after two friends vanished in East Oakland, police are now searching a fortified warehouse and quietly bracing for the worst in a case that has families fearing a deadly fallout from an alleged local chop shop operation.
The missing men, Justin Wayne Lee, 29, and Esmeraldo Hernandez Vivero, 34, disappeared in mid May and have not been seen since. Relatives and investigators worry the pair may have been killed in a dispute tied to organized auto theft, although authorities say they have not recovered bodies or confirmed any homicides.
Video posted to Instagram shows Oakland police and FBI agents pouring into a warehouse at 100th Avenue and Pearmain Street as part of what officials described as an evidence sweep, according to KTVU. Officers zeroed in on spots they believed could hide buried evidence, but the station reports that no human remains were found. Investigators say the search was the latest step in a long running probe into a chop shop ring that has drawn repeated law enforcement attention this year…