Suspicious death investigated in Laguna Niguel

Orange County sheriff's deputies were investigating the circumstances surrounding the suspicious death of a man whose body was found in a pickup truck in Laguna Niguel on Monday afternoon.

Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said a passerby called the Fire Department about 1:30 p.m. after spotting an unresponsive man in the front seat of the truck parked in the 27000 block of Avenida Armijo. Firefighters determined the man was dead and called deputies, who cordoned off the area and began interviewing possible witnesses.

A witness reported seeing a burly man with short gray hair  leaving the area about the time the body was discovered.  About two hours later, deputies found a man fitting that description sitting on a bench in front of a pharmacy and were questioning him Monday night, Amormino said.

The identity of the 34-year-old victim was being withheld pending notification of his relatives, Amormino said.  He added the cause of death will not be known until an autopsy is performed, possibly Tuesday.

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-- Jean Merl