Man found dead in Riverside septic tank

A 52-year-old man who was doing yard work Thursday at a relative’s Riverside home was later found dead inside the backyard’s underground septic tank.

The man occasionally stayed with the relatives in the 1600 block of Oxford Street and was last seen working in the backyard about 10 a.m., according to a news release by the Riverside Police Department.

A high-powered vacuum cleaner was running in the backyard and family members became nervous after not hearing from the man for several hours, the release said.

One family member who went searching for the man found him unconscious in the septic tank, and paramedics later pronounced him dead at the scene.

 ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com