The Region : ‘John Doe 171’ Identified

‘John Doe No. 171,’ the body which had lain for several days near one of Los Angeles’ busiest intersections, was identified as a 63-year-old man who had wandered away from a Carson convalescent home at least a week before his death, authorities said. Coroner’s spokesman Bill Gold said the dead man was Jose Marina, also known as Jose Goudon. His decomposing body was found Monday at the foot of an unused flagpole at the county’s Central Heating and Refrigeration Plant at Temple Street and Broadway. Los Angeles police said that the body was within sight of hundreds of pedestrians who pass the building daily but that it was ignored, apparently because people thought he was just another sleeping derelict. An autopsy showed that he was a victim of a heart attack, Gold said. A staff member of the View Heights Convalescent Home, where Marina-Goudon had lived, identified the man from a photo of distinctive tattoos--a cross, a skull and dagger and a nude woman, Gold said.