Body of Owner Is Found in Stolen Van

Police said a 30-year-old Los Angeles man may have gotten more than he bargained for when he picked a van to steal during the holiday weekend.

Inside was a dead body -- that of the van’s owner.

Juan Preciado was near 47th Street and McKinley Avenue on Sunday when he got into a parked vehicle, police say. Later that afternoon, Preciado was driving near Santa Ana Boulevard and Mountain View Avenue when police pulled him over for a traffic violation.

Officers found a body on the back floor. The body was identified as that of Sheldon Smith, 53, of South Los Angeles, who had been reported missing Saturday. Coroner’s investigators said Monday they believe that Smith, who had a history of heart problems, died of natural causes but they had not completed testing.

Preciado told police that, after he started driving, he saw the body, but first thought the man was sleeping or unconscious. He admitted going through Smith’s pockets, police said.

Smith’s widow, Mary, said she was worried when her husband didn’t return from a drive Friday night. The family went to the police early Saturday.

Her husband, a former heavy equipment operator, was on disability because of a heart attack several years ago, she said. Mary Smith said he may have felt ill and gone to rest in the van.

Smith said she was upset about the theft but realized that her husband’s body might have remained undiscovered longer if the van had not been stopped.

Police, who do not believe Preciado was involved in the death, arrested him on suspicion of grand theft auto and booked him into jail Monday. He was being held on $30,000 bail.