Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Neighbor discovers man's body

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Meadow Lake Investigators are waiting for autopsy results to determine the cause of death of a Meadow Lake man whose body was discovered in his home Monday night.

A neighbor found 58-year-old George Burns, a disabled Vietnam veteran, just after 6 p.m. Police say Burns, who lived alone, was awarded two Purple Hearts while serving in Vietnam.

Burn's neighbor, who the sheriff said had been keeping a close watch on the house after several recent burglaries, had noticed Monday that the back door to the mobile home, located at 572 Meadow Lake Road, was left open, said Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera.

"He (the neighbor) walked in and found the gentleman dead inside the residence," Rivera said. "That's when he went back to his house and called 911."

According to the sheriff, when deputies arrived at the house, they went inside the mobile home and found the man dead.

"At this point, we're treating this as a suspicious death, and the outcome may be a possible homicide," Rivera said. "We're reasonably certain that it's a homicide because of the amount of blood found."

Detective Lt. James Purdy said while he's still waiting for autopsy results to determine the cause of death, he suspects that Burns may have sustained either blunt force trauma or stab wounds.

The sheriff said Monday night that investigators have spoken to and interviewed several people who saw the victim earlier that day. Purdy said that he had seen and spoken with Burns Monday afternoon at the sheriff's department.

"He came here with a friend of his who had a police report filed," Purdy said. "He just gave the guy a ride."

The detective said that Burns did live at the Meadow Lake residence alone, but would allow people to stay over.

"He occasionally did have transient-type people that have stayed with him," Purdy said. "He opened up his heart and his home to people who were down on their luck and allowed them to stay in his home."

Purdy said through his preliminary investigation, he doesn't believe that anyone forced their way into Burns' home or that there was a burglary or robbery involved. He also said that there isn't any "outward indication" of a struggle either, other than the deceased body.

"We're still in the early stages of the investigation, and right now there are no suspects," Rivera said. "We are asking for the public's assistance, and if anyone knows what happened here, we need to hear from them."

Anyone who has information about this case is asked to call Detective Lt. James Purdy at the Valencia County Sheriff's Department at 866-2400.

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