The body of an unidentified man was found on the northeast side
of campus near Hilgard Avenue Saturday morning, and police have
launched an investigation into what they are calling
“suspicious circumstances.”
A passerby noticed an odd odor in the bushes that line Hilgard
Avenue and called UC Police Department. The first officer on the
scene discovered what appeared to be a deceased homeless man.
The coroner who examined the body “initially determined
that the death involved suspicious circumstances,” according
to a joint statement issued by UCPD and Los Angeles Police
Department.
The UCPD requested assistance from the LAPD after the
coroner’s examination. The investigation is currently ongoing
and is a joint effort between the two departments.
Nancy Greenstein, a spokesperson for the UCPD, said she did not
know what the “suspicious circumstances” were, but she
did say that the strong odor of the body suggested it had been
there for a while.
Greenstein also said that the vagrant “appeared to be
camping out” in the bushes at the time of his death.
LAPD had a homicide investigations unit on the scene all day
Saturday, sealing off Charles E. Young Dr. East from Wyton Dr. to
Charles E. Young Dr. North. LAPD investigators were moving back and
forth between a white truck and the crime scene in the bushes while
UCPD kept the area clear.
By Sunday, the investigation team had left and the area had been
cleared.
The campus side of Hilgard Avenue is lined with tall, dense
bushes that block the view of campus from the street. The victim
was found somewhere in these bushes across from Macgowan Hall and
the Murphy Sculpture Garden.
Greenstein said it would be “at least a week” before
any progress was made in the investigation, but Detective Ron
Phillips of the LAPD said there was no way of knowing for sure.
No further details were released about the victim, and there has
been no further progress made at this time.