September 16, 2008

Unidentified body found near Amboy

ABBY SEWELL Staff Writer
Victorville Daily Press


AMBOY — The body of an unidentified man was found under a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train bridge near Amboy Monday.

A bridge maintenance worker found the remains wedged against the bridge piling on Bureau of Land Management property near National Trails Highway, about seven or eight miles west of Amboy between 9:30 and 10 a.m., said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Damon Ward.

The man was carrying no identification and officials could not determine an age from the dried out and partially decomposed body, Ward said. The man was white, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing about 180 pounds, with light brown hair and a short beard, according to a report from the county coroner’s department. He was fully dressed, and a backpack containing plastic bottles, clothing and a badly faded ticket issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was found nearby, Ward said.

“Our best guess at this point is that he was probably a transient and the heat was probably too much for him and he just died out in the desert,” he said.

However, deputies have not ruled out homicide as a possibility. The San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department will conduct an autopsy to determine a cause of death and will attempt to identify the man.

To report any information relating to the death, call the Barstow sheriff’s station at 760-256-4838. To remain anonymous, call WE-TIP at 1-800-78-CRIME or leave information on the WeTip Web site at www.wetip.com.