Oceanside Police Need Help Identifying ‘Suspicious Death' Victim

The man suffered deadly head injuries and was found on the ground on S. Coast Highway on New Year’s Day

The Oceanside Police Department (OPD) needs help identifying a man found mortally injured on New Year’s Day, whose death investigators are calling 'suspicious.'

According to the department, officers received reports of a man down in the 2100 block of S. Coast Highway around 8:40 p.m. Friday. When officers arrived on scene, they found a white man in his 40s on a nearby bike path, suffering from multiple injuries.

Police said he suffered wounds to his face and the back of his head. He was taken to a local hospital but died a short time later.

The man had no identification, and the only identifying mark on his body was a tattoo suggesting he was not from the immediate area. Officials do not believe he is a transient.

After an autopsy Sunday, blunt force trauma to the back of the head was determined as the cause of death. The medical examiner was unable to determine what caused the trauma and it was not visible to first responders.

Because he was found alongside the busy S. Coast Highway, police said the man's injuries could be from a car crash or from an assault.

"We don't know for instance if the person was involved in an accident, if he was just hit, if he was assaulted there or if the body was dumped there," said Leonard Crosby with the Oceanside Police Department. "So we're looking into all sorts of different facets. Our detectives are investigating it. We're treating it as a suspicious death."

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information should contact the OPD at (760) 435-4900.
 

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