Man's body found at Irwindale landfill; accident likely cause

IRWINDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- A man's body was found in a pile of dirt from a downtown Los Angeles construction site that was dumped at an Irwindale landfill Friday, officials said.

The body was found when a truck driver dumped a load of dirt in a quarry at the Manning Pit site in the 5100 block of Vincent Avenue in Irwindale.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators said their preliminary investigation revealed no sign of foul play.

It appears the man was a transient in his 20s or 30s and his death seems to be accidental, officials said.

Detectives are still trying to determine how he died and came to be in the truck. They believe it is most likely the man had somehow climbed into the truck unknown to the operators and the dirt was later loaded in on top of him.

The dirt had been picked up around 7:45 a.m. from a Metro rail project site at 1st and Alameda streets in downtown Los Angeles.

A Metro spokesman said it is unlikely he was scooped up from the ground at the construction site because his body would have been noticed as it was loaded into the truck.

The man's identity has not been released.

Anyone with information was asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1(800)222-TIPS.