SANTA PAULA : Coroner Working on Identifying Corpse

Coroner’s investigators Sunday were trying to identify the badly decomposed body of a man discovered under a tree in a remote area of a Santa Paula ranch.

Sheriff’s Department investigators were called to the 8000 block of Balcom Canyon Road about 1:30 p.m. Saturday after a rancher discovered the corpse, Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said.

An autopsy was performed Sunday on the body, which was estimated to have been deceased for more than two months, Stevens said.

“The manner of decomposition was in the form of mummification,” Stevens said. “He’d been exposed to the sun quite a bit and the skin had dried real hard.

“We’re hoping to be able to pull fingerprints, but it will take us a couple of days to do the process we have to do,” Stevens added.

There was no outward sign of trauma, such as a bullet hole or stab wound, that would indicate a cause of death, Stevens said. Dental records also will be compared to persons reported missing within the past several months, Stevens said.

“It appears to be a male, but at this point we cannot determine age or race,” he added.