A man’s body was discovered in a construction area in Irvine early Friday, and police said they were investigating his death as a homicide — the city’s first in more than two years.
The body was discovered about 5 a.m. in a remote area near Wolf Trail and Orchard Hills (map), according to a news release from Irvine Police Department.
The man was face-down in a part of a construction site that was graded but where no structures had been erected, police said. Construction workers called 911.
The man’s identity and the cause of his death were under investigation.
The death was initially called “suspicious,” but police later Friday afternoon described it as a homicide.
The victim was described as a man in his 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 1 inch tall, and 200 pounds. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a black-and-white checkered shirt with a black undershirt, and black-and-red Nike shoes, police said.
Police would not say how long they believe the body was at the site, nor would they say how they thought he might have been killed.
The address given for the discovery is in an area of northeast Irvine called Orchard Hills, about a quarter-mile from Northwood High School. Several residential developments have been planned for the area by builder Irvine Pacific.
The city of Irvine last year marked a decade atop the FBI’s list of the safest U.S. cities with more than 100,000 residents.
Irvine’s last homicide was in February 2013, when former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner began his deadly rampage there, killing a retired LAPD captain’s daughter and her fiance in a parking garage.
Anyone with information on the body found Friday was asked to call Irvine police Detective Sarah Tunnicliffe at 949-724-7170.
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