Man Found Dead, Another Stabbed Alongside River

Two men were found only miles apart along the Santa Ana River early Sunday, one of them an apparent homicide victim and the other suffering from stab wounds but still alive, police said.

“I don’t know if there’s any connection between the incidents,” Costa Mesa Police Officer Rene Meng said.

The body of Rafael Galvan Campa, 42, of Santa Ana was found about 7 a.m. by a passerby on a walkway on the west side of the Santa Ana River trail, south of the Fairview Avenue overpass, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Dick Faust said.

Although the cause of death was not immediately known, police are investigating the incident as a possible homicide, Faust said. Campa was not stabbed, he added.

An autopsy will be conducted.

The body was between the riverbank and a wall at the rear of the Glen Arbor housing tract, Faust said.

A few miles south, the stabbing victim was found lying in the brush near the Victoria Street bridge, Costa Mesa Officer Meng said.

The victim, who was identified only as a young male, was found at 7:03 a.m. by a jogger, Meng said.

The victim appeared to have suffered multiple stab wounds. He taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, Meng said. His condition was not available Sunday night.