Man’s Body Found in Driveway

A woman on her way to work discovered the body of a 47-year-old Canoga Park man in a driveway next to an abandoned parking lot early Monday morning, authorities said.

The body of Bartolo Oronia, a Mexican national who police said had returned to Southern California last week after living in Mexico for a year, was found about 9:45 a.m. in the 7800 block of Deering Avenue with a gunshot wound in his back, said Detective Rick Swanston of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Investigators have determined that Oronia was shot at another location before his body was dumped in the driveway. Oronia, who lived with relatives, was an unemployed laborer, and no motive has been established for his death, Swanston said.

Oronia’s death was the second slaying in a 12-hour period in the area covered by the West Valley station, Swanston said. Those incidents were the first two killings of the year in that division, he said.

Police are asking anyone with information about Oronia’s death to contact detectives at the West Valley station at 989-8546 during regular business hours. Call the LAPD’s detective headquarters downtown at (213) 485-2504 after business hours or on weekends.