ANAHEIM : Autopsy Fails to Find Cause of Man’s Death

An autopsy Friday failed to determine the cause of the death of a man whose body was found Thursday in the trunk of a car in Anaheim, police said.

The victim, who was identified through fingerprints but whose name was not released pending family notification, was a 23-year-old Vietnamese man from Garden Grove, Lt. Bill Wright said.

Wright said toxicological tests--which may take weeks to complete--will have to be conducted to establish how the man died because there were no visible signs of trauma to the victim’s body, which was badly decomposed.

Canadian tourists staying in the 1500 block of S. Harbor Boulevard contacted police Thursday afternoon, reporting that there appeared to be blood leaking from the trunk of a car parked in a vacant lot next to a fast-food restaurant.

Officers arrived, opened the trunk and found the body, which was fully clothed, said Anaheim Police Investigative Sgt. John Haradon. He said the visitors reported that the car had been abandoned there for at least three or four days.

Haradon would not comment on whether any witnesses reported seeing someone park the car in the lot but said detectives are trying to establish whether the man was murdered or perhaps died of a drug overdose and was dumped by companions. He would not comment on whether any drugs were found in the car, which was still being searched Friday.

The car, which did not belong to the victim, had Iowa license plates. Investigators were trying to reach the registered owner for more information, Wright said.