Death of Man in Ditch Called Homicide
A man found dead in a drainage ditch in an unincorporated area near Irvine had blunt-force injuries, officials said Wednesday.
“Based on the autopsy, we’ve determined this to be a homicide,” Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner said. “People fall into ditches all the time, but there’s no way those injuries could be self-inflicted.”
Garner would not elaborate on the case or the investigation except to say that the victim was fully clothed and that the body was not decomposed.
The Orange County coroner’s office in Santa Ana is studying fingerprints to try to determine the identity of the man, who was found Tuesday afternoon partly buried in a creek bed in the 11000 block of Jeffrey Road.
The Sheriff’s Department asks that anyone with information about the case call investigators at (714) 647-7044.
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