Funeral Held for Slain Car Dealer

About 250 people gathered Tuesday at a funeral service for auto dealer Tony Bridges, who was found slain last week near Oxnard.

“It seems so very senseless,” Father Vincent Young told mourners at St. Sebastian Church in Santa Paula. “There are many unanswered questions.”

After the service, Bridges’ family, friends and business associates talked outside the church.

John Milton, a member of the Santa Paula City Council, said he would miss his friend.

“Tony was a great person,” he said. “He was very supportive with local charities.”

Hugh Black, a longtime friend, said he “just can’t make sense” out of the death.

“I just can’t understand how he allowed himself to get into a situation like that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Harwell said crime experts were still examining Bridges’ car, recovered Friday in the La Colonia district of Oxnard. There was nothing further to report, he said.

The nude body of the 45-year-old Bridges was found Thursday in a farm field in the unincorporated area of El Rio. He had been fatally shot at another location, investigators said.