Huntington Beach : Police Hope Tatoos Will Identify Man’s Body

Police are hoping tattoos will help them determine the identity of a man whose body was found last Sunday floating in a plastic bag at a city lake.

Two fishing companions found the body about 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Talbert Lake, an old, water-filled rock quarry near Ellis Avenue and Gothard Street, said police spokeswoman Jo Anne Bergstrom. The dead man had a chain around his neck “that appeared intended to weigh him down,” she said.

Bergstrom said results of a preliminary autopsy conducted this week on the decomposed body were not being released. She said the cause of death has not been determined.

Authorities, however, have released a description of the man. He is said to be a Latino in his early-to-mid 20s; 5 feet, 8 inches tall; 115 to 120 pounds, with long, dark brown hair, brown eyes and a thin mustache.

Police said the dead man was wearing a red, short-sleeved sweat shirt, dark blue corduroy pants and white athletic socks with a brown stripe. He had a three-inch scar on his back and several tattoos, which police are hoping will lead to his identity, Bergstrom said.

One tattoo included the name Julie written in bold letters and underlined on the man’s inside right forearm. The letters R and B, with the name Pam between, were tattooed on the back of his left hand. Another tattoo was a caricature of a man with a mustache, wearing a large sombrero and boxing gloves, Bergstrom said.

Except for the Julie tattoo, which was professionally applied, the others were “homemade,” she said.