Authorities identify man found dead inside car in Fresno County

Friday, April 16, 2021
Authorities identify man found dead inside car in Fresno County
The Fresno County Coroner's Office has identified the man who was found dead in a vehicle on Tuesday afternoon.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno County Coroner's Office has identified the man who was found dead in a vehicle on Tuesday afternoon as 56-year-old Pacer Hampton of Fresno.

Investigators said Thursday that Hampton died from gunshot wounds. Further information on the investigation has not been released.

This is a breaking news update. Our original story follows below.

The Fresno County Sheriff's office has launched a homicide investigation after a man was found dead in a vehicle.

The man was found near Olive and Polk on Tuesday afternoon.

This is Fresno County's first homicide of 2021.

Sheriff's officials say the car had crashed through an iron fence into the front yard of a home.

From outside, it looked a car that was parked, so investigators do not yet know what time or when this crash occurred.

Deputies say the house the car stopped at is vacant.

Sheriff's officials say they received a call at 2:15 pm from a service worker at a nearby home who noticed a car that seemed to have driven through a fence, and someone sleeping inside.

When deputies and emergency officials arrived, they realized the victim's injuries were not consistent with a crash, and began investigating the incident as a homicide.

Detectives have gone door to door, searching surveillance video and speaking with neighbors to try and find out what led to the mysterious death.