No signs of trauma on body

County authorities are still piecing together the mystery surrounding a dead body discovered this weekend in the Santa Ana River mouth.

Foul play does not appear to be a factor in the man’s death, Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said Monday.

“There were no obvious signs of trauma, no [questionable] bruises, gunshots, stab wounds and so on,” Amormino said.

Orange County coroners have not identified the man, thought to be in his 30s, authorities said. Authorities did say the body was tattooed and unclothed at the time it was found.

A group of local surfers found the body at about 10:40 a.m. Saturday near the river jetties on a sandbar under the West Coast Highway bridge that connects Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. The area has only a few homes near the Newport Beach side of the bridge.

An autopsy is pending, medical examiners said. Authorities, citing the condition the man was found in, believe he may have been dead for some time.

It is not clear where the body came from — farther up the river or from out at sea. But investigators said it’s a possibility that the man was swimming in the ocean and got swept under by a rough current.

On the Newport Beach side, an extremely strong rip current is created by the meeting of the outgoing river flow and the western flow of the ocean running along the shores from Newport Pier toward Huntington Beach.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is handling the investigation because the river, which marks the northern border between the two cities, falls under county jurisdiction.

KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].