Janitor Found Dead in Pickup at Art Museum
A Santa Ana woman Saturday found her husband dead in his pickup outside the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, where he worked as a custodian.
Rodolfo Ponce-Salas, 31, was found at 11:24 a.m. by his wife, Elia, after failing to return from work Friday or answer her pages, authorities said. Concerned by his absence, she drove to the museum parking lot at 850 San Clemente Drive.
Officials with the Newport Beach police and the Orange County coroner’s office said Ponce-Salas appeared to have died from natural causes. Police said his wife knew of no medical problem that could have caused his death.
“It looks like he went to lie down in his truck because he was tired or feeling ill and . . . he just didn’t wake up,” Newport Beach Police Sgt. Tom Tolman said.
A co-worker last saw Ponce-Salas at 2 p.m. Friday at the museum, police said.
Ponce-Salas was the father of three children, ages 3, 6 and 7.
An autopsy is pending.
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