Santa Monica, CA: On Saturday, February 19th, a body was located behind bushes in front of a church on the 1000 block of 7th street. Upon the arrival of the first responding units, it was determined that the person had been dead for a while. A suspicious death investigation was launched by the Santa Monica Police Department. A sleeping bag was seen near the bushes in public view indicating that a homeless person may have been around. The corner's office responded to the scene to record and remove the body from behind the bushes and transport it to a nearby moorage for the identification process as well as to determine a cause of death. It appears that no foul play was involved but that can't be ruled out until the Los Angeles County corner's office releases an official cause of death. The belongings of the person were taken to the police department to be processed as evidence due to it being a suspicious death investigation.
Northbound traffic was shut down on 7th street in the area while police were conducting their investigation.
A nearby resident told us that they moved out from their previous residency near the 3rd street promenade due to the number of homeless people that died, they didn't think that it would've happened at their new residency especially not just feet from a church. A lot of people we spoke to say that it is sad that homeless people just die alone because they have nowhere to go. It's a sad thing to see or hear about.
The church did give prayers to the unidentified person who died outside their church during an evening mass on Saturday evening.
An officer we spoke to said that the person appeared to be a homeless person as well as they appeared to be an alcoholic.
The Santa Monica Police Department did detain one individual at the scene but later released them.
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