Man’s Corpse Found Burning in Irvine : Police Anticipate Identification Problem Because of Its Condition

The burning body of an unidentified man shot at least once in the upper torso was discovered by a police officer early Thursday in knee-high brush 50 feet off an isolated stretch of Ridgeline Drive about 1 1/2 miles east of the UC Irvine campus.

Irvine Police Lt. Al Muir said the man apparently had been dead from 48 to 72 hours before his body was dumped in the field at the end of a short dirt path and set afire.

Authorities could not locate any witnesses. There were no cars parked along Ridgeline between University and Turtle Rock drives at 3:02 a.m. when officer Greg McFarland discovered the burning corpse while on patrol, Muir said.

Called for Firefighters

“The flames were about two, three feet in height” when McFarland came upon the scene, Muir said. The officer first tried to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher from his squad car but called for firefighters when the fire continued burning.

“An agent probably was used (to ignite the flames),” Muir said. “But we don’t know what that agent is.”

The only homes in the vicinity are a cluster of mostly unoccupied houses in a newly constructed subdivision on a bluff overlooking the field where the body was discovered.

Investigators anticipate they will have problems identifying the victim because of the condition of the body, Muir said.

There are only two or three fingers from which authorities hope to make usable prints. Matching dental records with those on file with the California Department of Justice in Sacramento could take weeks.

Police Reticent on Details

The man was found lying face down and curled up in a semi-fetal position, Muir said. There was at least one gunshot wound “in the upper torso,” Muir said.

“We’re not saying the location or number of gunshot wounds,” he said.

Investigators also do not know the man’s race. They estimated his age at anywhere from 25 to 35. They described him as being about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds, but because of the loss of bodily fluids caused by the fire he could have weighed up to 200 pounds, Muir said.

Investigators found no wallet or other identification at the scene.

They are hoping, however, that a custom watch the victim was wearing will serve as a valuable clue in learning the man’s identity.

Muir said the fact that the victim was still wearing the watch doesn’t necessarily mean he was not the victim of a robbery.

“It may have been so distinctive the killer didn’t want to take it,” Muir said.

The length of time the man was dead prior to being set afire raises the possibility that the slaying could have occurred several miles away, Muir said.

But investigators also believe it would be unlikely for someone to drive a long distance in a car with a dead body.

“There are plenty of places they could have dumped the body before they got to Irvine,” Muir said.

There were several automobile tire tracks on the dirt path leading to where the body was found, Muir said, but evidence indicates the killer or killers apparently parked the car on Ridgeline Drive and carried the body to where it was set afire.