Costa Mesa man, dog found dead in minivan

A 44-year-old man and his dog were found dead Wednesday afternoon in a minivan parked in the man’s Costa Mesa driveway, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported.

The bodies could have been there for two or three days, authorities said.

About 3:15 p.m., a gardener went to the man’s house in the 2600 block of Riverside Drive to do some work when he spotted the man’s corpse, a sheriff’s deputy said.

Deputies said that the man appears to have died from health-related issues, and that his death was not considered suspicious.

The van’s windows were rolled up, and authorities could not immediately say how the dog died.

The man’s father had last been seen him alive two or three days ago, deputies said.

The sheriff’s Hazardous Materials Team initially responded to the scene but was later called off.

The man’s identity was not immediately available. The coroner was responding to the scene.

— Joseph Serna

Twitter: @JosephSerna