Sacramento Coroner’s Office asks public to help identify man found dead in homeless camp

The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office on Wednesday asked the public for help identifying a man whose skeletonized remains were found last year in a homeless encampment in Citrus Heights.

The human remains were found Jan. 9, 2021, down an embankment along the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80, about 20 yards west of the Riverside Avenue/Auburn Boulevard exit.

Authorities thoroughly searched the homeless encampment, but they did not find any identification for the man, according to a county news release.

A forensic anthropologist examined the human remains and determined he was a white man who appeared to be 40 to 65 years old when he died. Coroner officials described the man as 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-4, and he had likely died four months to a year before his skeletal remains were found.

The Coroner’s Office had not determined the cause and manner of his death. Authorities on Wednesday released a forensic artist’s sketches of what the man might have looked like.

Authorities asked anyone with information related to the identity of this man to call the Coroner’s Office at 916-874-9320 or send an email to DeputyCoroner@saccounty.gov.

The Coroner’s Office maintains a list of active cases of unidentified people that dates back to 1975. Officials said their hope is that a loved one or friend might recognize the description of someone on the website which could lead to an identification.