Homeless Man Found Dead in Temescal

Looking as though he was still asleep, a transient was discovered dead last Thursday afternoon in his makeshift tent in Temescal Canyon Park by two police officers from L.A. General Services. ‘We’ve taken over the park ranger’s duties for the City of Los Angeles,’ Officer Lozano explained. ‘We came out the first thing this morning in response to e-mails from residents about the transients in the park. We started at PCH and we were working our way up.’ The two officers spotted a blue plastic tarp, which was well hidden in the brush, next to the xeriscape park south of the mural on Temescal Canyon Road and went over to post a notice, advising that all belongings not removed within 72 hours would be confiscated. When they got closer they observed what they thought was a man sleeping. Upon reaching the tent, they realized he was dead and called Fire Station 23 because only EMT personnel can make a legal death pronouncement, which they did. The coroner’s office was summoned to the scene, as well as the officers’ supervisor, Carlos Lopez, and Corporal Alcala from the West L. A. police division. The area around the tent was taped off, leaving only one way in and out of the area, which is standard procedure to prevent contamination of a possible crime scene. In addition to the transient’s makeshift tent, there were extra blankets, a pillow, a shopping cart, a bucket, bottles of drinking water and a baby stroller filled with bags. ‘He has a lot of personal items,’ Alcala said. ‘It appears he’s been here a while.’ If a dead person doesn’t have I.D., a fingerprint can be taken and matched to a database to see whether he has a criminal record or a driver’s license. The officers estimated that the man had been dead about four or five days and that he was about 5 ft. 6 inches tall and about 140 lbs. He had a white beard and was bald. ‘I stopped him about a year ago,’ said Michael Moore, senior lead officer for the Palisades. ‘He never caused any trouble for anyone in the Village.’ Elissa Fleak, an L.A. County coroner, arrived. She examined the front of the body for marks or possible wounds that would indicate criminal activity. As she prepared to turn the body over, officers advised the Palisadian-Post’s photographer to step back because, as they told him, ‘The smell of death is one you don’t forget.’ Fleak examined the decomposing back of the body, and looked for possible ID. Since she found none, she had the body labeled ‘John Doe #15,’ wrapped in plastic and transported downtown. ‘I probably won’t be able to ID him for a couple of days,’ Fleak told the officers, adding that since the skin had started to dry, she would have to soak his hands for several days in order to get a print. ‘It appears to be natural causes,’ Fleak said. ‘He was probably over 60 and he’s been dead about a week.’ As the deceased was placed in the van, Moore shook his head and said, ‘What a lonely way to go.’ At press time on Wednesday, the coroner’s office had not yet been able to identify the body. ————– Reporting by Staff Writer Sue Pascoe. To contact, e-mail: features@palipost.com