Identified! CA - Riverside, Male body in stranger's car, Sept'14 - Miguel Perez

zwiebel

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A Pomono woman, visiting Walmart in Riverside yesterday, called police to tell them her car had smelled bad all day. And when she stopped off at Walmart, she opened the trunk to see what was causing it and found a dead body.

It's reported the woman says she recognized the man as a neighbor but has no idea how his body got into her vehicle. Police are awaiting coroner's reports.

http://abc7.com/news/woman-finds-body-in-trunk-of-car-outside-riverside-walmart/307781/
 
I doubt she will ever get the smell out of her car, the poor woman. The car will probably give her the creeps. She will probably be keeping her doors locked, who-ever put the dead body in her car has to be a neighbour......!!!!
 
I am thinking the neighbor might well have done, or gained access when it was left unlocked in the garage. That's why I didn't put this in crimes - it's just a feeling, but I think it may turn out the man put himself in the trunk of her car.

I can only think of a couple of reasons why he might have done so though.
 
I'm stupid, zwiebel. Duh. If the woman left her vehicle unlocked and her glove compartment unlocked, most have a button you can push to pop the trunk.

Senior moment. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
 
So why was he in her trunk? Was he a stalker maybe? Or did somebody actually place him in the trunk? Was he dead before or after going into the trunk? Where did she normally park her car? Was it inside of a garage or in a driveway outside? If she normally parked inside of a garage, that may lend credence to Perez maybe crushing on her so this was a supposed way to gain entry to her place of residence. If he was dead before entering her trunk, the who would want to frame her by placing him there? Weird.
 
So why was he in her trunk? Was he a stalker maybe? Or did somebody actually place him in the trunk? Was he dead before or after going into the trunk? Where did she normally park her car? Was it inside of a garage or in a driveway outside? If she normally parked inside of a garage, that may lend credence to Perez maybe crushing on her so this was a supposed way to gain entry to her place of residence. If he was dead before entering her trunk, the who would want to frame her by placing him there? Weird.

Or drunk and unable to get inside his own home (or family not letting him in b/c he's drunk?) or afraid to go home b/c he was drunk and outside overnight so got into her car and then popped the trunk thinking he'd have somewhere to sleep where he'd not be seen until he was sobered up and then would go home?

Only then was killed by the heat?

It's been darn hot...we had our car outside and it was so hot it took over 20 minutes before the A/C was even close to starting to make the inside the car temp drop any.

I'm amazed listening to the scanner how many dozens (and dozens - and on weekends even more than a few dozen most of the time!) of calls come in about people finding someone in their cars.

Most are late night or early morning, and a huge percentage of the cases the person is intoxicated or on something. And in many cases, the car was unlocked or the window down some and so the person basically 'waltzed' right in and then were found there. (I won't even go into how many times it happens in homes also! Had no clue how few people seem to lock their homes or their cars! :scared:)

If he were drunk and couldn't get in his home or was afraid to go home drunk or something or his family/friends/roommates/whomever wouldn't let him in (amazing how many of those calls come in also!) and he was trying to find somewhere to go until morning, and saw her car, I could almost see someone not wanting to have to explain to their neighbor why they were curled up in their car so instead going in the car but where they wouldn't be seen easily, thinking they'd wake up and go home before being detected, only not taking into account lack of air - never mind heat - because of being drunk and not thinking clearly.
 
Also, assuming that's the same Miguel Perez - most people park on the street on that block.

He has to have lived in this apartment building based on the apartment given and what's on the block.

Many homes there don't have garages as it's an older area and that's pretty typical (no garages) and the few that do are either in alleys behind the homes (but that's for those on the opposite side of the street of the apartment complex) or else are carports on the driveway (so not enclosed) or behind fences.

It'd be an awfully easy place to try car doors and end up curling up in someone's car (or trunk) if they were under the influence of something - tons of cars to choose from along the street...

Very strange story!
 
Well I suspect this will end up being a key component...

Perez had been living in a vacant house in Pomona and has relatives in the area, and the woman recognized him from her neighborhood, Pomona police Lt. Ronald McDonald said.

It is a little amazing that considering he doesn't even really live in the neighborhood - only his relatives do - and he had just been squatting somewhere in town (so not even specifying if it was that part of the neighborhood) that the woman even recognized him!

Hope a media person reads here and sees the arrest record and asks LE if it's the same guy...

Still reiterating that she's completely cleared, but now saying it's a suspicious death.

Although 'suspicious' has definitely included suicides or unintentional deaths in the past, so I guess it doesn't entirely rule out that he got himself in there. As the ME said, really something like this almost naturally becomes suspicious if it's not apparent from the get go what happened.

Police are not publicly identifying the woman, and McDonald said she has been cleared of any involvement in the case.

Pomona police have taken over the investigation. They consider Perez’s death suspicious but still don’t know the circumstances. Information from the Riverside County coroner should help determine the time and cause of the death, McDonald said.

“How (Perez) got in the car, we don’t know,” McDonald said. “When you don’t see obvious signs of death and you find them in the trunk of someone else’s car, it’s unusual.”

Poor lady! What a shocking sight that had to have been...I could imagine someone thinking maybe a dead animal or food inadvertently left in the car and the heat causing either to smell, but one wouldn't prepare themselves to possibly find a dead body I'd not think!

And while they aren't identifying her, they've given the make and model of her car, and also specified that she works in Riverside and not Pomona, that all alone narrows it down and makes her more identifiable.

Plus, in one of the earlier articles (another by the PE, one in which they were saying she was a PoI) they gave the colour and included a picture of her car. I seriously can't imagine what she's going to have to deal with since that really limits who all it could be - and since not everyone will pay attention to the no longer a PoI / fully cleared bit if they don't read more recent articles, etc.

http://www.pe.com/articles/police-750042-perez-pomona.html
 
Or drunk and unable to get inside his own home (or family not letting him in b/c he's drunk?) or afraid to go home b/c he was drunk and outside overnight so got into her car and then popped the trunk thinking he'd have somewhere to sleep where he'd not be seen until he was sobered up and then would go home?

Only then was killed by the heat?

It's been darn hot...we had our car outside and it was so hot it took over 20 minutes before the A/C was even close to starting to make the inside the car temp drop any.

I'm amazed listening to the scanner how many dozens (and dozens - and on weekends even more than a few dozen most of the time!) of calls come in about people finding someone in their cars.

Most are late night or early morning, and a huge percentage of the cases the person is intoxicated or on something. And in many cases, the car was unlocked or the window down some and so the person basically 'waltzed' right in and then were found there. (I won't even go into how many times it happens in homes also! Had no clue how few people seem to lock their homes or their cars! :scared:)

If he were drunk and couldn't get in his home or was afraid to go home drunk or something or his family/friends/roommates/whomever wouldn't let him in (amazing how many of those calls come in also!) and he was trying to find somewhere to go until morning, and saw her car, I could almost see someone not wanting to have to explain to their neighbor why they were curled up in their car so instead going in the car but where they wouldn't be seen easily, thinking they'd wake up and go home before being detected, only not taking into account lack of air - never mind heat - because of being drunk and not thinking clearly.
I believe what happened could be very close to your theory. For most people, the heat would be stifling, however, if he were used to it and intoxicated, what better place to "rest" in his mind. Unfortunately, he probably succumbed to the heat and lack of air. A poor choice that cost him his life.

MOO
 
I hope she had full coverage auto insurance!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Wasn't there a similar case in that area a couple of summers ago? There was a woman (former realtor I believe) who had fallen on hard times and a neighbor let her sleep in her car...unbeknownst to the neighbor the woman had died but she didn't discover it until the kind neighbor was driving her car.

Glad that the owner of this 1999 Lexus has been cleared officially as a person of interest.
 
Good question if something like this is even covered!

Now you know...I'm going to be forced to call State Farm tomorrow and ask!!!!

"Ummm supposing somehow a person ended up deceased in the trunk of my car, ummmmm through no fault of ahhhhhhh my own....would my car be covered"?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Now you know...I'm going to be forced to call State Farm tomorrow and ask!!!!

"Ummm supposing somehow a person ended up deceased in the trunk of my car, ummmmm through no fault of ahhhhhhh my own....would my car be covered"?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Looking forward to hearing more about how that conversation goes!!! Hope you will share
 
Now you know...I'm going to be forced to call State Farm tomorrow and ask!!!!

"Ummm supposing somehow a person ended up deceased in the trunk of my car, ummmmm through no fault of ahhhhhhh my own....would my car be covered"?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
:silly:

I don't think I'll be calling my Allstate agent!! It couldn't happen to me anyway with a SUV.
 

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