Festival attendee dies in hospital

A 21-year-old La Mesa man who attended the Coachella music festival in Indio over the weekend died Monday at an Indio hospital after being found unresponsive that morning, according to Indio police.

Benjamin Nicholas Muller had been at the festival with a group of friends who camped out at a private estate near the Empire Polo Field, rather than at the official Coachella campsite, which is staffed by public safety personnel and private emergency-response teams hired by Coachella’s promoter, Goldenvoice, Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron said Wednesday.

There was no sign of foul play and the Riverside County Coroner’s office is performing an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Guitron said this was the first death that had occurred in conjunction with the Coachella festival since it began in 1999.