Dinuba Police Officer, Elizabeth Villalobos said "It was suspicious because it was on but also, according to reports, Wal-Mart said that it had been parked there since midnight."
Since the van was locked, officers called a towing company to get inside.
Villalobos said, "Upon opening the vehicle their first indication that something wasn't right was obviously the dead animal and secondly the heat. It was extremely hot in the vehicle.
"The 53 year old man was found lying on bedding in the back of the van. As far as police know, he has no ties to Dinuba."
Officials believe carbon monoxide may have killed the man because there were no signs of foul play. They think he just needed a warm place to sleep at night and found that in his running car.
Mark Wallace is the Mayor of Dinuba and also a long-time pastor at the Living World Fellowship church. He says there is a dire need for a men's shelter in Dinuba.
"There's lots of places to send a lady or small children or a family but there really isn't anything in our community that I can think of where you can send a single man to," said Wallace.
The Living World church will soon start constructing a new, 80,000 square-foot facility and eventually Wallace wants to add on a men's shelter.
Wallace also said, "Maybe even go into a co-op with other churches and create a men's shelter here in the city of Dinuba. It's much so needed."
While officials still aren't sure if the man was homeless they believe he was living out of his car for at least the night. An autopsy will be performed Tuesday to confirm determine the exact cause of death.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
abc30 News Links:
Links to other news sections on our website.
- HomePage
- Top Headlines
- Fresno Local News
- State News
- National/World News
- Entertainment News
- Business News
- Politics News
- Sports News
- Health Watch
- Consumer Watch
- Mr. Food
Breaking News Alerts:
Click Here to Sign-Up for Breaking News E-Mail Alerts
Receive Breaking News alerts in your email inbox.
Click Here to Sign-Up for Text Message Alerts
Receive Breaking News alerts right on your cell phone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
